Lucas gulped as he heard the auditorium explode in surprise. He froze in place, fearing that they would all laugh once he stepped on stage. He felt a gentle but firm hand push him forward. He walked to Eric, trying to stiffen his legs so that he didn't fall on the way. When he reached Eric's side, he glanced around to see that the rest of the S-Class students had spread out on either side of Eric. He looked at the crowd and made eye contact with Louis who gave him a thumbs up. Lucas smiled gratefully before bowing to the crowd.
"My name is Lucas Heartfilia. I'm honored to have the opportunity to have a position in the S-Class. I promise to do my best to uphold the S-Class reputation." He said before straightening up. There was a slight silence before someone started clapping. It started slowly but it spread like wildfire through the crowd. Everyone was talking to each other, speculating what talent got him into the S-Class. Once they had calmed down, Eric cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"I assume, then, that there are no objections?" He asked, his brown eyes raking over the crowd.
"Of course not. He's cute!" A voice called out, causing people to either laugh or murmur in agreement. He blushed at the comment and knew that his face had turned as red as Eric's hair. Eric smiled at the comment himself before talking again.
"Good. Then starting today, Lucas Heartfilia is officially part of the S-Class students." He announced before walking off the stage. Lexi and Mason flanked him, everyone else following close behind.
"Nessa, Grace. Can you guys explain everything to Lucas?" Eric asked, shooting a glance at the two girls. Grace fidgeted with the silver lining on her short icy blue dress.
"Do I have to do it with her?" Nessa asked, looking disgruntled.
"Let me do it instead of Grace!" Jackson called out. "I don't want her to be with another guy."
"I don't want to work with you either." Grace shot back at Nessa, Jackson's comments going unheard.
"Girls..." Eric's eyes glinted as he radiated a dangerous aura. Nessa and Grace both stiffened before nodding in agreement.
"Good! We'll see you guys later." Eric left the room, followed by Junelle. The rest of the S-Class students dispersed, leaving Lucas alone with Nessa and Grace.
"What exactly do you need to explain to me?" Lucas asked, tilting his head with curiosity. Nessa and Grace stopped glaring at each other to respond.
"The first thing is that there's a hierarchy within the S-Class students." Nessa started.
"Eric, Mason, Lexi, Junelle, Gia, Jackson, Nessa, me, Cyrus, and finally, you." Grace quickly listed as they also left the auditorium, flipping her long hair over her shoulder.
"How is the hierarchy decided?" Lucas asked.
"A lot of things. Seniority, grades, profits." Grace explained.
"Ability to come to meetings sober." Nessa joked. Grace smiled in amusement.
"Yeah Cyrus would be a higher rank if he just controlled his day drinking." She said. Lucas chuckled, not at all surprised that that was what was holding Cyrus back.
"Wait..." Lucas stopped in his tracks and went pale. Grace and Nessa stopped with him and looked back in concern.
"What's wrong?" Nessa asked.
"Does everyone now know I'm L.H. then?" He asked, feeling the panic threaten to overwhelm him. He heard the click clacks of Nessa's black heels on the tile before feeling her hand on his shoulder.
"No. As of right now, everyone probably assumes it's because of your family background and the fact that you're the first freshman to join in years." Nessa said softly. Lucas let out a sigh of relief and felt himself relax.
"Why don't you want people to know?" Grace asked, her brow furrowed.
"It's a long story..." Lucas muttered, looking away. He heard Grace take in a breath to press further, but it was cut off by an elbow in the gut from Nessa.
"Let's keep going. We'll explain everything else." Nessa said.
"I'm sure Louis already mentioned this, but S-Class students have as much power as the faculty do." Grace explained.
"We also have access to everything faculty does. For example, student profiles." Nessa added, glancing at Lucas. They had come to a stop in front of a large mahogany door.
"This is our room. Kind of like a student council room if you will." Grace said, pushing the door open. The room was fairly large, with wooden floors and white walls. Two of the walls were lined with books, while the other two were lined with filing cabinets. In the center was a circular desk with an empty center that was surrounded with ten seats.
"The bookshelves hold any information previous and/or current S-Class students thought might be useful. The filing cabinets hold all the logistics of the students and the academy." Nessa explained with a wave of her hand.
"We're in charge of organizing and approving any student events." Grace pointed to a pile of papers sitting on the circular desk.
"We also settle minor issues or infractions of the rules." Nessa pointed to another stack of papers.
"That's a lot of responsibility to give to high school students." Lucas mused, shuffling through some of the papers.
"Headmaster Vermillion claims it's because he wants to prepare us for adulthood." Grace said with a shrug.
"Rumors say he just doesn't want to deal with logistics." Nessa giggled. Lucas smiled at the thought, picturing Headmaster Vermillion complaining about the paperwork.
"That's most of what you need to know!" Nessa exclaimed, spinning around. "Let's go get some food!"
"Is eating all you think about?" Grace grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"You don't have to come Ice Queen." Nessa snapped. She wrapped her arms around Lucas's forearms. "You'll come with me, won't you Luke?"
"Luke?" Lucas blinked in confusion.
"It's your nickname!" Nessa said, grinning brightly at him. Lucas felt himself blush and he quickly turned his face away, hoping that Nessa didn't notice.
"Yeah sure. I'm down for some food." He responded.
"Great! Are you coming or not, Ice Queen?" Nessa asked, looking at the black-haired girl.
"Are you paying?" Grace asked, pursing her lips.
"No, but I'll drive." Nessa responded. Grace hesitated for another second before giving in.
"Sure, alright. Where are we going?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After a while, they were standing in front of a restaurant with a yellow sign and blue letters that read 8-Island. As they walked in the bell rang, and a girl wearing an orange dress with a white apron greeted them at the door.
"Welcome to 8-Island! Please follow me!" She led them to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. Once they had sat down she handed them all menus. "Let me know when you're ready to order!" She said with a smile before walking away.
"So what do they serve here?" Lucas asked, opening the menu.
"Burgers, spaghetti, pizza and so on. Western food." Nessa listed. She hadn't even opened her menu.
"You're not looking?" Lucas asked, eyeing Nessa's menu.
"Nah, I get the same thing every time. Siracha marinara pasta." Nessa said with a grin.
"Typical." Grace scoffed from across the booth.
"I don't see you opening a menu either." Nessa shot back.
"At least I rotate what I order." Grace snapped.
"Yeah, but that's cause you only care about the dessert." Nessa rolled her eyes. Lucas watched the exchange with a sheepish expression as he tried to focus on the menu. The waitress had come back and was taking the girls' orders. After a moment Lucas spoke up.
"I'll have the personal BBQ chicken pizza please." He said as snapped the menu shut.
"Alright. So that's one sriracha marinara pasta, one BLT hamburger, and one personal BBQ chicken pizza, right?" The waitress looked up for confirmation. At their nods she smiled and collected the menus before walking away. They continued to chat, their conversations interrupted by spats between Nessa and Grace before their food came out. Lucas took a bit of a pizza slice, his eyes widening in surprise.
"This is amazing!" He commented, taking another bite.
"Right?!" Nessa responded, still chewing.
"At least swallow before you talk." Grace grumbled.
"You wanna go Ice Queen?!" Nessa glared daggers across the booth.
"Any time Flame Princess!" Grace retorted. Lucas just sighed as he continued to eat his pizza. At this moment a slim, short lady walked out. She had a white chef's hat that sat on her shoulder length brown hair. Paired with it, was a white chef's outfit and a red scarf. She stopped in front of their booth and cleared her throat to get Nessa and Grace's attention.
"Grace, Nessa. What did I say about arguing in my restaurant?" She said sternly, her hands on her hips.
"Oh! Hi Miss Yajima! Grace started it!" Nessa said cheerfully, undeterred by Miss Yajima's stern voice.
"I don't care who started it! Don't fight in my restaurant!" She scolded.
"Sorry~" Nessa smiled, not looking sorry at all. Miss Yajima sighed in exasperation before turning her light brown eyes to Lucas.
"Hm? Who's this?" She raised an eyebrow.
"This is Lucas Heartfilia. Newest member of the S-Class!" Nessa clung to Lucas's arm, looking at Miss Yajima with excitement.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the owner of this restaurant and an alumnus of Fairy Tail Academy." Miss Yajima said with a kind smile.
"Not just the academy. Miss Yajima used to be part of the S-Class too." Grace added. Miss Yajima laughed lightly as she turned to leave.
"Enjoy your meal! As always, I'll make sure you guys get your discount." She waved goodbye before heading back to the kitchen.
"Discount?" Lucas asked, taking another bite of his pizza. Seriously, how can such a simple dish be so good? He wondered.
"Yup! As Fairy Tail Academy students we get discounts in a lot of stores around Magnolia." Nessa said cheerfully as she finished her pasta.
"Where are we going for dessert?" Grace asked, wiping her hands with a napkin.
"You can choose." Nessa sighed. Grace smiled with satisfaction as they paid for the meal and left the restaurant. Walking a little ways down the street they came in front of a little dessert cafe with the name Fantasia written across the top in gold, cursive letters. As they walked in, the bell rang a plump man appeared.
"Ah, Grace, Nessa. It's good to see you guys again. I assume you'll be getting the usual?" He asked. The girls nodded and he disappeared to the kitchen, leaving the three kids to sit at a table by the window.
"What's the usual?" Lucas asked curiously.
"50 Fantasia cakes." Grace responded without batting an eye. Lucas choked on air in shock.
"50?!" He gasped.
"One for each of us. Then 47 for Eric."
"Eric?" Lucas asked, still in shock.
"Yeah. Eric loves Fantasia cakes. It's the one unhealthy snack he indulges in." Nessa commented casually.
"He'll get angry if he finds out we came to the bakery but didn't get him any." Grace shuddered.
"What kind of cake is it?" Lucas asked.
"It's a vanilla strawberry cake. With lots of frosting." Nessa explained.
"It's heavenly." Grace sighed. "It's my dream to learn the recipe." She added, gazing off into the distance.
"Someday Grace, someday!" The man reappeared and he chuckled as he wheeled out a cart holding 50 boxes. "But for now, here you go!"
"Thanks! See you next time!" Grace and Nessa both grabbed the cart and waved to the man as they wheeled out. Lucas trailed behind, blushing. But as he looked around, he realized no one looked even slightly fazed by the two girls dragging a cart of 50 cake boxes with them.
Seriously... What is up with the people in S-Class...?