#why don't girls wanna be friends with you. gee i wonder after you walked up to tara after hearing she kissed a girl

[indi-glo-archive]

i hate imogen with a passion

[superfreakerz]

hi can I request Nalu Au where Lucy is on the run from an arranged marriage with the Younger Brother of the Spriggen Emperor's younger brother and she run in to Natsu who is upset with his brother Zeref for signing him up for some nonsense he don't wanna marry some stuffy princess he would much rather hang out with his new weirdo buddy Luce (now that I say that I wonder if it will fit into a one-shot oh well plot sounds cute :3)

Hello, thank you for the request! It was a little tricky fitting it into a one-shot but I hope you like it! :D

“On the Run” 

Rated T for language.

Summary: Lucy is on the run after refusing to marry some stranger her father had tried to set her up with. During her journey, she meets a boy named Natsu. Little did they know at the time that their lives were intertwined before they even met.

On the Run

Her arm stung as it scraped againsta branch blocking her way to freedom, blood trickling from the wound and mixingwith the sweat and dirt that coated her body. The sting was enough to distract her from her hunger, at least.  She hadn’t eaten in days, and her stomach wasstarting to feel like it was eating itself. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion and her legs were burning, screamingfor a break.  But she couldn’t stoprunning.  Not yet.  Not until she’d crossed the border into theneighboring kingdom.

It had been two days since herfather had told her he had arranged her marriage with the younger brother of the Spriggan Emperor.  

“You did what?” she choked out. Her throat felt tight, tears pricking her eyes.  She knew the day would come eventually, butso soon?  She was only sixteen!  She couldn’t get married yet!

“Don’t make me repeat myself,child,” her father had replied.  “TheSpriggan Emperor and I have arranged the marriage between you and his youngerbrother.  You leave in the morning.”

“But…  But I’m only sixteen!  I-I can’t get married yet!”

“Lucy!  You are the Princess of Fiore!  You do whatever is needed for yourkingdom!  You do not live the same lifeas everyone else.  You are Lucky LucyHeartfilia and you shall act as such! Now go to your room.  I have workto do.”

               Later that night, she snuck outof the castle and began her escape.

               Lucy thought she had run outof tears to cry, but it turns out she didn’t. Just recalling that night was enough to bring tears to her eyes.  

               Sheknew that her father didn’t care about her, not since her mother had died longago.  But she never would’ve imaginedthat he would trade her away so easily. Sure, the marriage would bring in funds that Fiore needed, but whatabout her?  Was her own life not important?

               Swallowingthickly, Lucy shook her head.  Now wasn’tthe time to think about such things.  Sheneeded to focus on escaping.

               Reachingthe border, Lucy noticed the knights on patrol. As Princess of Fiore, she could easily tell them to let her through.  Word of her disappearance was probablyspreading through the kingdom, though. There was no way they would listen to her, not if they worked for herfather.

               There wereonly a few people Lucy knew that were kind despite working for her father.  She was particularly grateful for one of themright now, as they had taught her some fighting techniques even though herfather told her not to bother with such things. Sneaking through the shadows and approaching the guards, she gave fastblows to their necks, knocking them out cold.

               Withthat, she was on her way.

               As Lucyfirst crossed the border, there was no real difference between the FioreKingdom and the Alvarez Kingdom.  Afterall, she was rushing through the forest. The trees all started to blend into the same blob of green at some pointduring her journey.

               Nowthat she was on Alvarez soil, her father’s knights were unable to reachher.  Sure, she had to worry about theAlvarez knights now, but she chose not to think about that.  

               Hersteps slowed, her legs feeling sluggish. She’d been running for days, only taking a few breaks.  She hadn’t even allowed herself to sleep,scared that someone was going to whisk her away back to the castle.  

               Nowthat she was in somewhat safer territory, Lucy sat herself against a tree, allowingher back to lean against the bark.  Ithad been a gruesome couple of days for her, and exhaustion was creeping its wayquickly over her body.  Her eyes droopedto a close as she finally allowed herself to rest.

               Natsusighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked through the familiarforest.  His steps were calm, as heknew there was no point in trying to escape his brother’s clutches.  Well, clutches wasn’t exactly the rightword.  It wasn’t like his brother was someharsh dictator.  Zeref was a nice guy andwas just doing what he needed to for the sake of the kingdom, even if it meantarranging a marriage between him and some princess in Fiore.

               Natsusighed again.  He didn’t want to marryanyone, least of all a princess.  Beingthe Prince of Alvarez, he had met plenty of snobby princesses in his life, allof them only caring about jewels, clothes, and who had the most money.  What kind of life was that?  He just wanted to have fun with his friendsand continue living the way he had been.

               Butwhen Zeref asked him to marry the Princess of Fiore, saying that the kingdomneeded connections with the Heartfilias, Natsu found that he couldn’t sayno.  After all, he’d been slacking on hisprincely duties his whole life, and even though the kingdom was doing relativelyfine, he’d still seen some of their citizens suffering.  He wanted to end everyone’s suffering.  So, he’d agreed to marry a girl he’d nevereven met despite only being seventeen years old.  

               Natsuwas pulled out his thoughts as he came across a girl sitting against a tree,her body covered in dirt and scratches. Looking at her arm, he could see dried blood stained over it.  Concerned, he rushed towards her, nudging hergently.

               “Oi, areyou okay?” he asked, hoping that she wasn’t dead.

               Luckily,her eyes fluttered open and he was met with orbs of brown, rich enough to makehim feel like he was drowning in chocolate. The dreamy effect they had, however, died the moment she glared at himand pushed him away.

               “Getaway from me!” she shouted, rushing to her feet.  Her legs wobbled beneath her, giving out onher.  In seconds, she was collapsing tothe ground again.

               “Areyou okay?” Natsu tried again.  This timehe didn’t touch her, not wanting to set her off again.

               Thegirl narrowed her eyes at him.  “What doyou want with me?”  Her voice was raspy, herthroat dry.  She hadn’t had water in solong.

               “Huh?”

               “Is itmoney?  Well too bad.  I don’t have any on me right now.”

               Natsucouldn’t help but laugh.  “Money?  Nah, I think I’m pretty set on that.”

               Thisonly made the girl fearful.  “Th-Then…  You want…” Her hands immediately covered her chest, informing Natsu what she was implying.

               “What!?  No way, you weirdo!  I was just wondering if you were okay,sheesh!  I saw you were bleeding and youlooked like you were dead, no offense.”

               “Oh,” shereplied, though it was clear her suspicions hadn’t died down.

               “Well?  Are you okay?” Natsu asked for the thirdtime.  

               “I’mfine.  Thank you.  You may go now.”

               “Huh?  That’s it? You’re clearly not fine, you know.”

               “Leaveme alone.”          

               Thegirl forced herself to her feet, leaning against the tree to steady herself.  A vein ticked in Natsu’s forehead.  Here he was trying to help this girl and shewas being a pain in the ass about it, not even sparing him a glance.  Walking up to her, he quickly pinched hercheeks and tugged on them, receiving a yelp and angry stare in reply.

               “Let goof me!” she shouted, tugging on his hair.

               “Ack!  You let go!” he shot back.

               “Youstarted it!”

               “No,you did!”

               “What?  You were the one that pulled on my cheeks!”

               “Becauseyou were bein’ difficult!”

               The twostared each other down, refusing to be the first one to let go.

               “Alright,we’ll both let go together,” Lucy suggested. “On the count of three.  One…  Two… Three.”

               Reluctantly,they both unhanded each other.  Natsucrossed his arms with a sigh.

               “So why’reyou all messed up looking?” he asked bluntly.

               Lucyglared at him again.  ‘Gee, thanks.  Why don’t you just kick me while I’m down whileyou’re at it?”

               “Yeah,yeah.  Just answer the question.”

               Lucycrossed her arms, studying the boy.  Hehad onyx eyes, darker than the depths of the ocean.  His skin was slightly darker than her own andhis arms were toned.  Surprisingly, hishair was a light shade of pink.  She’dnever seen a boy with pink hair before. For some reason, she found herself liking it, along with the rest of theboy’s features.

               “I’mnot telling you,” Lucy finally answered, sticking her tongue out at him.  

               Natsugave an annoyed look.  “Why not?”

               “BecauseI don’t even know you.  You could be somemurderer or something.”

               “If I wasa murderer, wouldn’t I have just killed you by now?  After all, you’ve been doing nothing butannoy me.”  The girl smacked his arm,glaring at him, which only made him laugh. “What’s your name, at least?”

               Lucybit her lower lip, wondering if she should tell the boy.  He obviously didn’t recognize her as the Princessof Fiore by the way he acted around her. People were usually timid around her and treating her with the upmostrespect, not knowing that she just wanted to be treated like everybodyelse.  It was a refreshing change havingsomeone pinch her cheeks or call her annoying or even bicker with her.

               “I’mLucy,” she answered after giving it some thought.  She wasn’t the only one in the world with thatname, she doubted he would know she was the Princess just from that.

               “I’mNatsu,” the boy replied, giving her a fanged grin.  Admittedly, it brought a flush to her face.  He was pretty cute.

               “Whatbrings you all the way over here, Natsu? Are you heading into Fiore?” Lucy asked, feeling more comfortable aroundthe boy.

               “Nah,”he replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. With a shrug, he continued, “I just needed to get away for a bit.  What about you?”

               “I’mstill not telling you.”

               “Aww, c’mon!  I told you!”

               Lucycrossed her arms.  “Fine.  You could say I needed to get away, too.”

               “Fromwhat?  Are you in danger?  Is that why you’re covered in dirt andscratches?” Natsu asked.

               “Iwouldn’t say I’m in danger…”

               “Thenwhat?”  Natsu sighed, quickly noticingthat Lucy wasn’t going to answer his question. “Alright, you don’t have to tell me anything, Luigi.”

               “It’s Lucy!”

               “But you should at leastcome with me to get some food and water. When was the last time you ate something?  Your stomach has been growling this entiretime.”

               Lucy’scheeks turned pink in embarrassment.  “Shutup!”  

               Natsulaughed, grabbing her hand.  “Come on.  I’ll get you some stuff from my place.  I’ll have to sneak you inside, though.”

               “Don’tbother.  I’m not going to go in somestranger’s house.”

               “Alright,fine.  I’ll bring it out to you then.  Happy?”

               Lucynodded, allowing Natsu to lead her towards his place.  Judging from the way he dressed- baggy pants,a weird coat with only one sleeve, and a scaly scarf wrapped around his neck- sheassumed that he was in the lower to middle class.  

               Lucyglanced down at her hand, realizing that it was still locked with Natsu’s.  A blush stained her cheeks, feeling thewarmth that radiated from the boy.  He wasabnormally warm, warmer than anyone she’d ever met.  

               “I-Ican walk on my own,” Lucy said, tugging her hand away.  She was too embarrassed to be holding hands witha boy, especially one as attractive as Natsu. She’d never even had the chance to talk to boys back in the castle.  Everyone there was an adult.

               Natsushrugged, letting go of her hand.  Inseconds, she was wobbling unsteadily.  

               “Justlemme carry you,” Natsu suggested.  “It’llbe quicker that way.”

               “Carryme?  No way!  I-!”

               Beforeshe could finish her sentence, Natsu had picked her up and thrown her over hisshoulder.  Her face became a blushingmess as his hands were holding onto her upper thigh, dangerously close to herbum.  She hit his back over and overagain.

               “Put medown, Natsu!” she demanded.  

               “I toldyou, it’s quicker this way, Luigi.”

               “Stop callingme that!”

               Natsuchuckled.  “Fine.  But it’s still easier to carry you so stoparguing with me, you weirdo.”

               “I’mnot a weirdo!  You’re the weird one thatinsists on carrying me like this!  Andwatch where you put your hands, you pervert!”

               Natsublanched.  “Oi!  I’m not a pervert!  Gray is!”

               “I don’teven know who that is!  Just put me downalready!”

               Natsugroaned.  Lucy was a lot of trouble, butalbeit amusing.  He settled her back onthe ground, only to carry her princess style instead.  

               “No complainin’this time!” Natsu said, knowing that the blonde would have if he gave her thechance.  “Just accept the help, damn it!”

               Lucycrossed her arms, muttering, “Fine, idiot.”

               Eventually,Natsu stopped in his tracks.  They werestill in the forest and had been walking for over half an hour.  Lucy was surprised that he managed to carry herthe entire way without needing a break.  

               Natsugently put her down.

               “Youwait here,” he said.  “I’ll go inside andget some food and water for you.  Don’tmove from this spot, okay?”

               “Alright,”Lucy replied.  “…Thank you, Natsu.”

               The boyflashed her a grin and ruffled her golden hair. “Don’t mention it, Luce!”

               As hewalked away, Lucy stared at his retreating form.  Her cheeks turned pink as she thought of thenickname he had given her.  It was thefirst nickname anyone had given her.  Itmade her feel normal.

               “Luce, huh? I kinda like that.”

               Just as promised, Natsureturned shortly, carrying a bag over his shoulder.  Crouching in front of her, he opened it toreveal that it was stuffed with junk food and bottles of water.  Not caring how unladylike she looked, the blondegrabbed a water bottle at the speed of light and chugged down its contents,wiping away the tiny drizzle that crept down the corner of her mouth.

               Natsu’seyes were trained on the water that trickled from her lips.  Her pink, plump lips to be exact.  Realizing he was staring, he shook his headand focused on the food instead.

               “I couldn’tget anything cooked, sorry.  But I broughta bunch of my favorite snacks you could fill up on!” Natsu exclaimed with agrin.  Pulling out a bag of chips, he handedit to her.  “My friends say that theseare spicy, but I don’t think so.”

               Lucynearly drooled seeing the bag of chips.  Notonly had she not eaten in days, but she also was never allowed to eat any unhealthysnacks at the castle.  Her father saidthat a princess was responsible for taking care of her body and making surethat it looked pleasing for suitors. Snacks, cookies, and any type of greasy food was forbidden in the castle.

               Shescarfed down some chips, relishing in their flavor.  Happy tears streamed down her face.

               “Sogood!” she exclaimed, going in for some more.

               “Aren’tthey?” Natsu replied, smiling as well. He was glad to see her give such a real smile.  Something about her told him that she didn’tsmile all too often.

               “Ooh,they are kind of spicy though,” Lucy said, guzzling down some more water.  Her body felt better immediately.  Thanks to Natsu, she could continue herjourney.  She didn’t have a destinationin mind, but she knew that she couldn’t stay by the border.  It was too risky there.

               “I can’tstay here too long,” Natsu said with a frown. “I gotta go back in before my brother notices that I’m gone.  I was supposed to go meet with someone yesterdayand I bailed.”

               “Isyour brother strict?” Lucy questioned.  

               “Yeah,but he’s kinda gotta be strict.”

               “Isthat why you needed to get away for a bit?”

               Natsucrossed his arms behind his head with a sigh. “Yeah.  I love my brother, but heset up an arranged marriage for me.  Iain’t even interested in that sorta stuff but I don’t really got much of achoice.”

               “Arrangedmarriage?” Lucy replied, her eyes growing wide. So Natsu came from a place of nobility? Only nobles and royals usually dealt with arranged marriages.  

               “Yeah.  Somethin’ bout helping the kingdom.  I love the kingdom too, which is why I agreedin the first place, you know?  But to behonest, I really don’t wanna marry some snobby princess.  I just wanna have fun with my friends.”

               Lucy’smouth dropped on its hinges as she stared at the boy in bewilderment.  “W-Wait a second…  A-Are you the younger brother of the SprigganEmperor?”

               Natsuraised a brow.  “Yeah.  How’d you figure that out?”

               “B-BecauseI’m Lucy Heartfilia!  I’m the one that youwere supposed to meet up with and marry yesterday!”

               Natsu’seyes turned to the size of golf balls.  “A-Areyou serious?”

               “Yes!  That’s why I’ve been on the run for the pastcouple of days!  I don’t want to getmarried either!”

               “Holyshit!  What are the chances!” Natsuexclaimed with a wide grin.  “That’s soweird!  I-“

               Hissentence was cut short as Lucy rose to her feet, backing away from him.  The distrust in her eyes that had gone away duringtheir time together was returning.  

               “Lucy?  What’s wrong?” he asked.

               Thegirl shook her head, staring at him defiantly. “I-I don’t want to get married!  Irefuse to!  I won’t let you take me!”

               Ignoringthe bag of food and water, the blonde turned on her heel and rushed in theopposite direction away from Natsu.  Herlegs were screaming in pain, still exhausted from her previous days ofrunning.  Her heart was thrashing aroundin her chest.

               A warmhand encircled her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

               “Letgo!” Lucy shouted, trying to pry her arm away.

               “Coolit, Luce!” Natsu replied.  “I’m not gonnaforce you to marry me, you weirdo!”

               “Y-Youaren’t?”

               “Noway!  What the hell kinda person do I looklike to you?”  Natsu let go of Lucy’swrist and put his hands up in surrender to try and calm her down.  “Look, I didn’t wanna get married either,remember?  You’re nice and all, but that’snot my thing.  And if you didn’t agree tothis, then I definitely don’t want to.”

               “…So…  What now?”

               Natsushoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I don’t know.  Do you have anyidea where you’re going?”

               Lucyshook her head.  “I don’t know anything aboutAlvarez and I don’t have anyone to take me in.”

               “Do youwanna live in the castle?  There are ashit ton of empty rooms nobody uses.”

               “That’sa little risky, don’t you think?”

               “Iguess that’s true.  What about I get themoney so you can buy a place of your own?”

               Lucy blinkedonce, then twice.  Was he serious?  “You would go that far for me?”

               Natsushrugged, a lopsided grin resting on his face. “Yeah, why not?  We’re friendsnow.”

               The wordfriends had Lucy’s heart skipping a beat. She had made friends with some of the employees in the castle, but noneof them were her age.  Natsu was thefirst friend she had made herself.  Shenever believed she would have the opportunity to do such a thing.

               Lucytackled Natsu in a tight hug.  “Thankyou, Natsu.  For everything.”

               The boywas taken aback, his cheeks turning pink. “D-Don’t mention it, weirdo.”

               OnceNatsu returned from grabbing some money at the castle, the two were on theirway to find a place for Lucy to live.  Theyavoided anywhere in town since Lucy was a runaway.  It took a while, but eventually they found asmall cottage in the woods, which Natsu had purchased immediately.  

               Lucy awedat the sight of her new home.  It wassmall, especially coming from her castle, but it had everything sheneeded.  Working appliances and a bathtubwere all she needed to make this place a home. Thanks to Natsu, she could do everything she dreamed of doing in the castle. She could make her own meals, be asunrefined as she wanted, and live a life of freedom.  A life worth living.

               Tearspricked her eyes as she turned towards Natsu.

               “Thankyou…” she breathed out.

               Natsusmiled back at her.  “I keep tellin’ yato quit thankin’ me, you weirdo.  I gottahead back now.”

               Lucyfrowned.  “Already?”  Though, when she lived in the castle, shewasn’t allowed to go outside at all, unless she was meeting some other richnoble or something.  Natsu’s freedomsalready extended much further than hers did.

               “Yeah.  I gotta let Zeref know that I’m changing mymind about an arranged marriage,” Natsu replied.

               “You cando that?”

               “Huh?  Of course. It’s not like he forced me or anything.”

               “Whatchanged your mind then?”

               “Seein’you running and trying your best to live the life you want,” Natsu answeredsincerely.  “I don’t to be forced intoanything either, so it’s time I tell Zeref that.”

               “Good luck,”Lucy said with a frown.  “Am…  Am I ever going to see you again?”

               “’Courseyou are, weirdo,” Natsu answered, ruffling her hair.  He laughed as she pouted and swatted his handaway.  “I’ll try to visit every day.”

               “Really,I can’t believe you’re doing all of this for me.”

               “Hey,thanks to you I don’t have to get married either.  Ain’t my thing.”

               Lucysmirked.  “Really?  You can’t see yourself getting married ever?”

               Natsu’seyes trailed over her, a blush making its way over his face.  “N-No way! Marriage and mushy, lovey-dovey shit is not for me.”

               “Whateveryou say.”

               The twosmiled at each other, their hearts light and excited about their budding friendship.  Saying their goodbyes, they didn’t feel toosad, because they knew that they were going to see each other again, as fate clearlywanted them to meet in the first place. After all, they were set up in an arranged marriage, still somehow foundeach other despite Lucy running away, and became friends through it all eventhough they weren’t going through with the marriage.  Fate wanted their lives to intertwine.

               Andwhile neither of them didn’t want marriage at the time, little did they know thatyears later into the future, they would be walking down the aisle togetheranyways, but not as Lucky Lucy Heartfilia and Prince Dragneel.  No, they would come to take their relationshipto the next step as just Lucy and Natsu. 

Hope you liked it! :D Thank you again for the request! :D

[lady-olive-oil]

Chapter 1

Prelude || Characters || Chapter 1

{A/N: First chapter of a new series for the new year! Let’s go! Let me know what you think and if you want to be apart of the tag squad! Huge thanks to my sis Maddie, she’s a character in this one by the name of Natasha}

Squad: @maddiestundentwritergaines

Word Count: 1,295

Warnings: none

Xhosa Translations; (loosely)

‘Ndifungela ndiya kukubetha ngolunye usuku

- I swear I’m going to hit you one day

———

Junior year. Near the final stretch for Nefertiti and her crew. It’s took some time to get here but, with a village she made it through. Getting a degree has always been at the top of her list, alongside becoming a Delta. Becoming a Delta meant that you held yourself to a high standard, a higher caliber of life and was apart of the Divine Nine. This second semester in particular, moving into a better part of the sorority house was the perfect way to start off the year. A room fit for an upcoming big sister.

With some old 80’s and 90’s jams, playing in the background, while sorting the boxes all out, Nefe was just in her element. With the help of her roomie Natasha, fellow Delta herself, she couldn’t help but love the new vibe she felt from Nefe.

“Honey, Chile. I don’t know what got into you, but I’m loving this new attitude of yours. It’s new and vibrant, I wonder what’s gotten into you?”

Natasha, or Nattie, has always been Nefe’s voice of reason along with the party queen. Kind of a contradiction isn’t it? Well that’s how she is: voice of reason and party queen.

“Well what got into me was Sean. Don’t tell M’Baku cause he’ll flip his shit.” A chuckle left her full lips as she opened the box of her room decorations, along with Southern University pennants.

“You mean Mr. Wakanda? Something about him just screams seduction. Why aren’t you with him? Sean isn’t what you need Nefe.”

Nattie did always have a way with words. Maybe she was onto something. But Nefe never really thought of M’Baku that way, and he didn’t think of her that way. Did he?

“Oh so Mr. Wakanda, will have something to say huh?” The infamous thick voice broke the silence, causing the girls to scream.

“Jesus M’Baku! Don’t do that. Ndifungela ndiya kukubetha ngolunye usuku”

To say he wasn’t laughing is an understatement. Along with teaching Nefe Xhosa, which clearly stuck with her like gorilla glue on a boot.

“Your pronunciations are getting better, intyatyambo. That’s flower by the way.”

Sitting on the loveseat by the bay window, giving his ever so sweet smile. He never ceased to amaze them. Okoye and Nakia were in their rooms but knew M’Baku came to visit Nefe. They’d tease her about it occasionally.

“Gee. Thanks great gorilla. I’m sure your home country will be proud.”

The teasing tone in her voice caused him to chuckle and Nattie to shake her head and help finish decorating.

“My parents miss me yes. But they’ll be visiting on parents day in September, along with me going home with you and your family. It’s tradition.”

He shrugged as he grabbed a Velcro command strip to hang up a framed picture. A family portrait that meant the world to Nefertiti. That’s one of the things he loves about her, how family oriented she is.

“Yeah yeah. Ok you two, the jams are on and we all have class in an hour. Gotta start junior year off right, right? So sister Queen Nefertiti, turn up the jams.”

Nattie grabbed another box, as Nefe turned up the song on her Logitech Clock radio, that was currently charging her phone. Prompting M’Baku to either join in or record it.

“I got all this love, waiting just for you I just got to know, that your love is true. Can't keep running boy, in and out my life. Want to be your girl, not cause the mood is right.”

Nefe lip synced into her hair brush, swaying her hips to the beat and making her way to her closet. Pointing to Nattie, and she gladly took the next verse.

“If I let you come inside Tomorrow will you hide? Will you be there for me? When I need someone to hold Baby don't misunderstand. I do want you for my man, I just need a little time, Before I invest my love”

Moments like these were what the group was looking forward to. The late night studying groups, sleepover, Greek recruitment days, parties and most of all graduation coming soon. It was gonna be a grand year.

M’Baku was taping them the whole time and was enjoying being back at SU with his friends. He knew he had to get the group together sooner or later to catch up. But for now he’d settle for this with two of his favorite girls.

“Don't walk away boy, My love won't hurt you. Don't walk away boy, I'll be right there for you!”

The girls sung in unison as they danced around in complete bliss and comfort. The two girls fell on top of a huge bean bag chair, and started laughing The three of them finished decorating and admired their work, ready to take on the year.

The rest of the day was filled with classes, introducing new students to the class; ye old syllabus and requirements to uphold. The old mumbo jumbo. But something in music theory threw Nefertiti off her rocker.

Melanie Davis was her name, being Nefe’s rival was her game. They’ve had it out for each other since high school. Even the delta house denied her application sophomore year, because of how she presented herself. Yet the AKA’s welcomes her greatly.

Sitting next to M’Baku on his left, she batted her falsies at him and smiled.

“So M’Baku, how was your summer? You should’ve went to Jamaica with me and the girls. We would’ve loved to have you there.”

Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Nefe. Her left eye was twitching and Okoye caught it.

“My summer was great Mel. It was good to be home. I’m sorry I couldn’t. Maybe next spring or summer break.”

He did find Melanie attractive. Who wouldn’t? He just let her down gently and she giggled. She made Nefe’s skin crawl.

“Want me to cut her? I’ll cut her for you.” she mouthed at Nefe which cause her to chuckle and shake her head.

“So the homecoming game is coming up. I’ll be cheering for you in the stands. Plus there’s a party afterwards, wanna go with me?”

He was so uncomfortable, and was about to reply till someone stepped in.

“He has plans already, Davis. Stop trying.” Nefe finally spoke up causing everyone around them to laugh.

“Listen here little miss soul sistah. If M’Baku wants to go with another melanin goddess like me, it’s his choice to go.”

Melanie never ceased to get under Nefe’s skin because she knew it bothered her that she could get to M’Baku. After all they did date before, but she ended the relationship because of his friendship with Nefe.

“No you listen here, Mel. He’s obviously uncomfortable with you still. So why don’t you sit ya ass down and chill. Aight?”

Erik always had Nefe’s back. She was like a sister to him. He’s T’Challa cousin and M’Baku frat brother of Omega Psi Phi.

Melanie scoffed and headed out with her little crew, once class was over.

“So y’all want dinner? Popeye’s or is Nakia making jambalaya?” T’Challa, also one of M’Baku’s friends, had asked the group as they headed out the class.

“I’m feelin Popeye’s. Let’s go.”

Once they agreed to Nefe’s statement, they headed that direction. What happened in the music room played again in Nefe’s head. Part of her knew M’Baku still had feelings for Melanie and that somewhat bothered her.

Nah, not somewhat. It fully bothered her to the fullest extent. This was going to be a long year till graduation.