It was early in the morning and, despite feeling like the sun had only just come up, the halls filled with the chatter of the different students and the opening and closing of lockers. Many students continued to flood into the school, greeting friends and classmates that they passed while on their way to either their first class or their favorite morning hang-out spot.
Gray stood at his locker, loading textbooks and notebooks in and out of his backpack in order to lighten what he would have to carry for his morning classes. He waved to people he knew as they passed by, but didn't say much other than 'hello'. He wasn't one for mornings, so he didn't bother trying to start any conversations. Gray took his jacket off and hung it up on one of the hooks in his locker before closing it and turning the dial.
"Excuse me." Someone behind Gray called out, tapping on his shoulder lightly in order to make sure they had his attention. When Gray turned around, he was faced with a boy, slightly shorter than him, with pink hair. "Hi. Um, I'm new here, so would you mind pointing me towards the main office?"
"Yeah, sure. It's just down that hallway and on your left." Gray pointed in the direction of the office. He tried to give a welcoming smile to the new boy, not wanting to scare him on what was clearly his first day.
"Thanks!" The pink haired boy smiled and waved before beginning to make his way past the crowded hallways.
As soon as the boy had left, Gray grabbed hold of his back pack and headed towards his classroom. He quickly dropped his stuff on the floor by his desk and slumped down in his seat. He watched as people ran in and out of the classroom, dragging their friends with them so that they would always have someone to talk to.
"Good morning Gray." One of his classmates greeted him as they sat in the desk next to his.
"Morning Lucy." Gray waved at the blonde girl.
The bell rang and students from the halls began flooding into the classroom one by one, all running to their seats to try and sit down and get out their notebooks and pens before the teacher showed up. Gray leaned down and shifted through his own backpack until he found the materials he was looking for. Once he had set up his things so that it at least looked like he would be paying attention. The black haired boy was just about to start spacing out when the teacher came into the room, followed by a boy. The same boy from the hallway.
The boy stood in front of the classroom, his bag slung loosely over one of his shoulders. He had taken his coat off, so Gray was able to see exactly what the boy was wearing. The pink haired boy was wearing black skinny jeans, held by a large black and red checkered belt, although considering how tight the jeans were it was really unnecessary. On top, he wore a loosely fitting long sleeved black shirt with dark red stripes and a V-neck, the neck line however was covered by white and grey checkered bandana-like scarf tied around his neck. A few locks of the short pink hair were pinned back by thin, black clips, revealing several earrings on that ear alone. There were chains of sorts dangling from his belt, but they were mostly covered by his long shirt, making it so they were mainly heard, not seen.
"Everyone," The teacher called the attention of the class. "This is Natsu Dragneel. As of today, he is your new class mate."
"Hey there boys and girls." A smirk grew on Natsu's face as he gave a wink to the class.
"Mr. Dragneel." The teacher called the boy's attention back to him. "You will be sitting in the empty seat in the back."
Natsu nodded and began making his way towards the back of the classroom. He quickly placed his things on the floor before sitting down. The moment he did sit in the desk chair, he turned to the people on either side of him and said quick 'hello's.
The flood of people in the hallways started up once again right after the lunch bell rang. Many of the students began pushing their way through the crowded hallways in order to get to the cafeteria before the line got too long.
"You look really stylish." A couple of girls giggled. They had gone up to Natsu right when the bell rang in order to introduce themselves and talk to the pink haired boy.
"Thanks girls." Natsu smiled at them. He brought a hand up to hold his cheek, his elbow rested in his other hand. "It took me forever to figure out what to wear."
Gray decided to ignore the conversation in favor of grabbing his backpack and going to get his lunch from his locker. But, as he reached the door, he was stopped by someone tugging on his sleeve. He turned around to see that it was Natsu, again. The shorter boy stood with both hands behind his back, his thin frame was curved ever so slightly. He honestly looked like a girl with the way he was carrying himself. Gray adjusted his backpack on his shoulders as he faced the other male.
"Sorry for stopping you again." Natsu winked and stuck out his tongue slightly. "But would you mind showing me around some? I don't know anyone else."
"No problem." Gray nodded, smiling slightly to show he was friendly. He didn't really get why it had to be him, it wasn't like he knew Natsu any better than the next person, but he really didn't mind helping out if he could. He liked helping people out if he could anyways. "Mind if we stop by my locker first?"
"Not at all big guy." Natsu gave Gray a sweet smile before following him out of the classroom and into the hall. Since lunch had already been going on for a little while the hall wasn't as packed as it could have been, which made getting to Gray's locker much easier.
"I'm Gray by the way." The dark haired boy introduced himself as he swapped out his morning materials for his afternoon ones, grabbing his lunch in the process. It had occurred to him that he had never introduced himself, not that he really had the time to before. "So, is there anywhere in particular you would like me to show you too?"
"Mind if we stop by the cafeteria?" Natsu asked after thinking about it for a moment. "I still need to get lunch."
Gray nodded and began leading the way down the hall once more. As they walked into the cafeteria, Gray immediately saw his friends sitting around one of the tables. "Hey guys." He waved as he walked up to the table, Natsu still following him.
"Hello Gray." A girl with long red hair said as the boy came up to the table. She quickly saw Natsu behind him and shot the pink haired boy a questioning glance.
"Oh. This is Natsu. He just transferred in." Gray explained. He then moved to the side so that Natsu could introduce himself further if he wanted to. But instead of saying anything, Natsu just waved. "Um, well," Gray decided to introduce his friends to the pink haired boy while they were there. "This is Erza, Gajeel, over there is Levy, and that's Lucy, she's in our class in case you don't remember.
Natsu nodded and smirked after being introduced to the group, then he turned back to Gray, looking up with big black eyes. "Where's the line to go get food?"
"Right over there." Gray pointed off to the, now short, line not too far away.
"Thanks a bunch." The pink haired boy brushed his hand down Gray's arm as he turned to go wait in the line.
"So how do you know him?" Levy asked curiously once Natsu had left.
"I just met him this morning." Gray shrugged and sat down in the spot left empty for him.
The group of friends started going back to the conversation they were having before Gray had shown up, although it wasn't hard for him to catch up and join in himself. After ten minutes or so, Gray saw Natsu looking around the cafeteria, lunch tray in hand, trying to find a place to sit. Feeling sorry for the other teen, and seeing that no one else knew Natsu just yet, Gray raised an arm into the air and waved to the boy, making sure he knew that he was being called over. The moment they saw Natsu coming up to the table, everyone scooted down some to make room for the pink haired male to sit down.
"So then," Lucy, who was sitting next to the Natsu, turned to face the new boy. "What made you come here?"
"Oh, nothing much." Natsu waved a hand in front of his face. "I just needed to get out of there."
"Any reason why?" Erza asked between bites of a sandwich.
"It was a Catholic school." Natsu chuckled to himself. "They didn't exactly want me there."
"Is there something wrong with you?" The blonde girl next to him asked, looking him over once or twice.
"Well darling, that all depend on who you ask." Natsu smiled. He saw a small blush creep up on Lucy's face after calling her 'darling' and he quickly decided to make sure she didn't think he had the thing for her, even if they had only just met. "I don't mean it like that. I don't mean to sound rude, but you're nowhere near my type."
"And you're type is?" Gajeel spoke up. He clearly didn't care and was only trying to make conversation.
Natsu folded his hands together and rested his chin on top of his fingers. "Tall, sporty, easy to tease," The pink haired boy listed off the various things he looked for in date.
"Believe it or not," Erza stated once the boy was done. "You pretty much described Lucy."
"Maybe." The pink haired boy shrugged. "But unless there's something I don't know about, and considering I don't know her, is technically possible, she is missing one very important factor."
"And that would be?" Lucy was curious as to what she was missing according to Natsu.
A playful smile grew on the pink haired boy's face. "If you want, I can show you." Everyone at the table seemed to have the same mix of confusion and skepticism on their faces, but soon agreed either way. Natsu giggled and clapped his hands together. Then, he turned in his seat so that he was facing Gray. "Mind helping me out some?"
Gray looked at the other male, who smiled up at him innocently. He was just about confused as the next person. Looking down at the pink haired boy once more, Gray nodded. "Sure. What can I help you with?"
"Just. Sit. Sill." Natsu instructed, winking up at the boy. The moment Gray nodded again, Natsu shifted so that his legs were on either side of the cafeteria table's bench. His arms were straightened out in front of him, pressing against the fake wood. Natsu could feel the curious stares of the others at the table watching him as he looked Gray over once. Then, with a slight smile, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Gray's, pulling away quickly as to not draw too much attention to the gesture.
Everyone at the table went wide-eyed, especially Gray, who looked like he had just been frozen stiff. Gajeel ended the silence by laughing, and was soon joined in by the others. Only Gray still remained in a state of shock.
"Figure out what you're missing?" Natsu asked Lucy, brushing one of his fingers gently over his lower lip.
"Yeah." Lucy rolled her eyes. "I think I got the message."