Lucy felt awful as she walked to the cafeteria to meet up with her friends.

The weekend had went by in a blur. Before she knew it, she found herself sitting in a classroom, taking notes and studying like always.

The worst part was her father. Since he didn't know that his daughter overheard his conversation, she had to act like she never did.

It was difficult, to say the least. Especially with his new fiance wandering around everywhere. Flare, she introduced herself as.

If everything went as her father wished, she would soon be Flare Heartfilia. It made Lucy sick to even think about it.

Lucy clutched her bag strap and entered the noisy cafeteria. Her eyes swept it for signs of her friends and they narrowed when she saw Levy, Erza, Juvia with Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal. They were, at least that's what it seemed, talking.

She hurried along to her friends' side and she was able to hear part of the conversation they were having.

"Why would you care?" Levy shouted at Natsu's face, making him step back.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy said, getting the attention of the seven people there.

"Ah, Lucy-san!" Juvia brightened up, rushing over to her, as if she had just received the best news ever.

She went to her ear. "Lucy-san, apparently Natsu wants to play a game with you." She whispered.

"A game?" Lucy whispered back, confused.

Juvia shrugged, not knowing much either.

Lucy turned to the four boys and raised her eyebrows.

"What do you want?" She demanded, letting her frustration from the weekend show in her tone of voice.

"I want to make a deal." Natsu spoke up, walking towards the blonde.

She put her hands on her hips. "A deal, you say.."

"Yeah, I-"

Levy interrupted him before he could say anything further. "Don't trust him, Lu-chan! He only wants you for the money!"

The boy with long black hair growled and rolled his eyes. "Shut up, shrimp," he told Levy, "you don't know nothin'"

"Oh yeah, metal face? Well, then why don't you use proper grammar, open your mouth, and explain what exactly I don't get." Levy threathened, not in a very good mood.

Gray whistled. "Now aren't you a feisty one!" he commented, earning a dirty look from Levy and Erza.

"Look," Jellal intervened, as if hoping to stop the chaos and form some peace. "We just want to talk. Let us talk and then we'll get out of your way."

"And how do we know we can trust you?" Erza questioned, a venomous look in her eyes.

Jellal flinched at her gaze.

Natsu let out a large sigh.

"Okay," He turned to the girls, "I just want to talk to Lucy here, so all of you g-"

"Are you telling us to leave?" Erza exclaimed, giving him a death glare.

By now, a crowd had formed around the group. The commotion had struck the curiosity of the students.

"Great," Gajeel groaned, "Now we gotta an audience."

Gray smirked and waved at a few girls, making them swoon and scream out "Gray-sama!"

Juvia rolled her eyes, feeling disgusted by the girls who would throw themselves at a boy.

Levy went to Lucy's side. "What do you want, Natsu?" She asked him.

Natsu turned to Lucy, paying little attention to the blue-haired girl.

"I want to play a game, Lucy." He said.

"A game?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"What's the game?"

"It's very simple, actually." Natsu began, "all we have to do is make each other fall in love with each other."

"And the first one to fall in love?"

"Loses."

The crowd of students surrounding them broke out in "ooh's" and "aah's" as they anticipated what was going to come next.

"What's the penalty?" Lucy asked, hands folded, and a smug look on her face.

"The loser has to do one thing that the winner wants them to do." Natsu told her.

"Only one thing?"

"Yeah, but it could be anything."

"Anything?" She repeated, just to make sure she heard it correctly.

"Anything." He verified.

"Interesting. What's the time limit, then?"

"Until we graduate."

Lucy widened her eyes. "A year and a half for a simple game?"

Natsu nodded.

Lucy smiled before turning to the crowd of students, much to Levy's dismay.

"You hear that? Me and Mr. Dragneel here are going to make the other fall in love with them. And whoever falls in love first, loses." Lucy announced to the pack if students.

Some even had their phones out, videotaping the whole thing.

"Go Lucy-senpai!" A random girl shouted.

"I'm rooting for you Natsu-senpai!" Another student shouted.

"Hey Lu-chan, are you sure this is a good idea?" Levy asked her friend.

Juvia and Erza came close to their blonde friend, abandoning the arguments they were having with the boys.

"Yeah, it's fine, Levy-chan," Lucy reassured her friends. "I had something similar to this in mind anyway. It all works out."

"I guess.."

--

"Hey Flame Brain, what if you actually fall in love with her?" Gray asked his pink-haired buddy.

Natsu rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Nah, Ice Princess, don't take me for granted. I won't fall for someone who hurts my friends."

Gray nodded his head as Jellal came up to him.

"Hey Natsu, don't take all the credit. I was the one who thought of that game, you know." Jellal commented, patting Natsu on the back.

Natsu grinned, "Yeah, I know," he simply said.

"What's all this commotion about?" A loud voice interrupted the chatter of the high school students.

They made way for white-haired teacher that everyone knew all too well.

"Mirajane-sensei!" A girl cried out, revealing the identity of the teacher.

The young woman walked up to the group of students that had started the whole commotion.

"What's going on here?" She asked, looking at the eight with a stern look.

"Just a game," Natsu told her.

"Oho, a game? And what kind of game is this?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"A love game." Gray answered while blowing kisses to some random girls.

"A love game?"

"Yeah. Lucy and Natsu are going to try to get the other to fall in love with them. They're basically going to act like a fake couple until one of them falls in love." Jellal explained, happy to finally get his time to shine.

"What a stuck-up." Erza tched.

"I see." The teacher put her hand on her chin.

She turned to Natsu and Lucy. "Then, what does the winner win?"

Natsu smirked, making Lucy roll her eyes.

"The winner can make the loser do any one thing he wants." Natsu replied.

"'he'?" Lucy glared at him. "Hey, don't be thinking that you're actually going to win. The winner's going to be me."

Natsu gave the blonde a curious glance. "Oh? I'd like to see you try." He teased.

Mirajane-sensei chuckled. "Well, that seems like a fun game." She said with a smile.

"I'll be rooting for the both of you." She said, waving to them as she started walking away.

And that was the cue for the audience to explode in chatter. Some made bets, some said who they thought was going to win, some even said they were going to help one side win.

And the eight junior high school students stood there. In the midst of it all, they were smiling.

The game had begun.

--

Now! The game has finally begun!

Who do you think is going to win?

Who do you want to win?

Tell me what you think in the comments.

-EpicMelody