Rings of Promise

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

"He wants to start a club?"

"Yeah."

Levy and I were eating dinner as we talked. She had come home a while ago, complaining about being hungry before asking what had happened between Natsu and me. She shot me a look of disappointment when I said he only walked me home. However, that only lasted until I told her about Natsu's earlier suggestion. She seemed excited at the idea of forming a new club, even more so about Natsu wanting to form one because of me.

"See, he cares about you," she said.

"So do you and all of our friends," I said.

"You're such a buzzkill," she sighed.

"That's what I'm here for."

After we cleaned up and had our desert of chocolate ice cream, Levy decided to watch a movie. While she went through our stack of DVDs, I went upstairs for a quick shower. During the time that it took to wash my hair, I though about all the dreams that I kept forgetting. Every time I woke up from it, there was always this painful feeling in my chest, as if something important was slowly disappearing in front of me. No matter how hard I tried to remember, all I ever saw was a dark silhouette. I haven't told Levy about it since the matter wasn't important. It just somehow bothered me every time I thought about it.

I finished my shower and stepped out to dry myself. After blow drying my hair, I got dressed, tucking the necklace under my shirt before heading downstairs. Levy was already seated on the couch with a bowl of popcorn on her lap as she fast forwarded through the movie's opening advertisements. I entered the kitchen to grab a bottle of iced tea before joining her. After putting up my feet on the table and getting comfortable under a blanket, I asked for the popcorn and we began watching the movie. It was another romance movie, it was called The Notebook I think. It was very slow at the start and lacked any action. Halfway through it, I began to slowly doze off.

I was jolted awake by a soft crying. Opening my eyes, I saw that Levy was wiping her eyes with a tissue while she sobbed at the TV. I followed her gaze to see an old couple holding hands. I yawned and stretched out my arms, retracting my feet from the table in the process. My back was sore from the awkward sleeping position and it started to ache with every move I made.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I said.

Levy didn't respond but only gave a small nod. I stood up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. When I came back, Levy was wiping the last of her tears as the credits rolled. I went into the kitchen to grab a snack before returning to my seat.

"Was the movie good?" I asked.

"It wrecked my heart, that's for sure," she answered.

"We can watch an action movie next," I suggested.

"Yeah, let me go get some water first," she said and stood up.

As Levy was rummaging around in the kitchen, I picked out another movie for us to watch. As I waited for it to load, I felt my phone buzzing. Reaching into my pockets, I pulled it out to see that it was a call from Erza.

"Good evening Lucy, am I bothering you?"

"Not at all, is there something that you need?"

"Do you by any chance have Natsu's phone number?"

"Sorry, I haven't asked him."

"That's fine, I'll ask someone else."

"Why do you need his number?"

"He didn't give the school a contact number when he registered."

"Oh okay, sorry I couldn't be of any help."

"It's not a problem, a lot of people doesn't seem to have his number."

"Is that so?"

"Also, have you considered my offer of joining the student council?"

"I don't know Erza, the position just doesn't seem right for me."

"How about giving it a try? You could always resign if you don't like it."

"Let me think about it tonight and I'll get back to you tomorrow."

"I look forward to hearing your reply."

We exchanged goodbyes before Erza hung up. Levy had came back with a glass of water and some more popcorn. She snuggled under the blanket again and had her feet propped up like before.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Erza," I replied.

"What did she want?"

"Natsu's phone number."

"And...?"

"I didn't have it."

"You didn't ask him for it yet?"

"Of course not."

"You need to step up your game Lu-chan."

"You're one to talk."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How are things going with Gajeel?"

Levy flushed red and pulled her gaze away to look at her hands. I quirked an eyebrow and gave her a smirk before pressing play on the movie. Levy stared at me with stained cheeks before giving a huff. I tried my best to hide a laugh as to not further irritate my best friend.

xxx

"Natsu, what are you doing?"

"Playing basketball."

"What's that?"

"It's a game where you throw a ball into a basket."

"That doesn't sound very interesting."

"Why don't you try it?"

"No, you'll laugh at me."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Mm-hm."

"..."

"You laughed!"

"Sorry, you just looked too funny."

"How am I suppose to throw the ball into a basket that high?!"

"Here, I'll teach you."

xxx

I spotted Natsu as soon as we left the house. He was a few feet away and was walking alone. I urged Levy to hurry up with locking the door and ran down the steps to meet him.

"Morning Natsu," I greeted.

"Morning," he yawned.

"Didn't get enough sleep last night?" Levy asked.

"Yeah." he answered.

"By the way, are you free after school today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Want to come over and hang out?"

"Sure, why not."

"Is that okay with you Lu-chan?" Levy turned to me.

"Yeah."

We arrived at school just as the first bell rang. Natsu left to visit his locker while Levy and I headed to class. Since we came earlier than usual, the classroom was mostly empty. When we were settled in our seats, I pulled out my phone to text Erza. After thinking about it last night, I decided that it wouldn't be too bad to be officially a part of the student council since I was already helping out anyway. Erza was ecstatic at my reply and wanted to meet during lunch to show me the ropes.

"You're finally joining the student council?" Levy asked as she peered at my phone.

"Yup," I said.

"So you're going to start staying after school instead of always going home?"

"I don't know, Erza said that the job didn't require much time."

"You should really stay after school sometime."

"Why?"

"You might get to see the ghost."

"Uh, what?"

"Legend has it that when it's dark out, our school's founder can be seen wandering the halls and entering classrooms."

"Wasn't there more than one founder?"

"Who knows, but people have said that they've seen a woman with long, golden locks of hair standing by a window, looking at them. Scary, isn't it?"

"So what happened after they saw the "ghost"?"

"They won't say."

"Seems pretty sketchy to me."

"That's because you haven't seen the ghost for yourself."

"And you have?"

"Not yet."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Natsu asked as he took a seat.

"There's a ghost haunting the school at night," Levy said.

"Do you really think that's true?" I sighed.

"It's interesting, let's check it out!" he exclaimed.

"Not you too," I groaned.

"We can't today, you're coming over after school, remember?" Levy said.

"Oh right, let's go on Monday then," Natsu said.

"You're not even in a club yet Natsu, there's no reason for you to stay after school," I pointed out.

"Like I said yesterday, we could start a new club," he said.

"What is it going to be about?" Levy asked.

"I want it to be a place where we could go on a lot of adventures," he said.

"So like a sightseeing club?"

"Hm, something like that."

We were interrupted when the teacher came in. Ms. Evergreen seemed to be in a pretty good mood this morning as she took attendance and talked about yesterday's test. Students began groaning when she started to pass them back. Even though I thought I did well on the test, it was still nerve wracking when she walked by and placed the paper upside down on my desk. Levy had already flipped over hers and was quietly cheering, she had a perfect score and was pretty happy about it. I slowly turned my own test over and sighed in relief when I was met with a score of 90 out of 100.

"Looks like you dodged a bullet," Levy commented.

"Yup," I said.

I turned to look at Natsu as I heard him heave a long sigh. Taking a peek at his score, I was surprised to see that he only got 30 out of 100. Levy and I shared a concerned look before we spoke to him.

"I take it that Japanese is not your strongest subject?" Levy asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Natsu cracked a smile.

"We could help you study if you want, you're coming over today anyway," I suggested.

"Would that be alright?" he asked.

"Of course," Levy said.

"Awesome, and thanks."