Ok, so the first thing I want to say is that I am terribly, terribly sorry. The characters are all crazily OOC, they're not really the characters anymore. Please don't hate me. gwb620, I hope you like it anyway. It's dedicated to you.
Um, yeah that's it. Leave a review to let me know what you thought. Favorites and follows are also appreciated.
"No matter how long you stare at him, he's not going to grow horns or anything," my best friend told me candidly. I jumped, giving her a flustered smile.
"Stare at who, Levy? What are you talking about?" Levy only rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her apple.
"I'm talking about the guy you've been staring at like an idiot for the past ten minutes with a dreamy look in your eye." I opened my mouth to protest, but she plowed onwards. "You even sighed a couple times. What are you now, the woebegone heroine in a crappy melodrama?" I huffed.
"That was unnecessary. First of all, I was just spacing out, not staring at anyone, and second of all, I am not woebegone! Nor am I in a 'crappy melodrama'." I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers. Levy wasn't even listening. She'd already turned back to her book.
"Look, if you like him, just go talk to the guy. I doubt he'll bite." I crossed my arms. I was starting to get irritated.
"Oh yeah? Who are you to give me advice on things like this, when you can't even say 'hi' to Gajeel without turning ten different shades of red and stuttering so hard you can't talk?" Levy glared at me, cheeks pink.
"At least I talk to him!" she snapped back. "Unlike a certain cowardly someone who can't even introduce herself to the guy she likes! Do you even know his name?" I scowled at the table. The truth was, I didn't. I had never had a real conversation with him, never heard anyone call his name, never been in a class with him. He was a complete stranger, but I'd been watching him and his friends. He was a good friend, a kind person, and he genuinely cared about others. "Why do you like him so much, anyway? What about him appeals to you?" Levy asked curiously. She seemed to have let go of our argument for the moment.
I shrugged. "He helped me on my first day here." I had transferred into Magnolia High for my junior year, so I had no idea what I was doing my first day, whereas everyone else had been in the school since freshman orientation. I managed to get so lost I was in the gym when I should have been two floors up in the AP English classroom. "He brought me to my class even though it made him late. Anyway, I don't LIKE like him, I just never got a chance to thank him." Levy raised an eyebrow and took another bite of her apple.
"So just go thank him. It shouldn't be that hard, right? You can even get his name. Five minutes, tops, if you go right now."
"Won't you be all alone here, though?" I protested. "It's fine. I'll do it later." Okay, so I was nervous. It was normal. He was surrounded by his friends. It would be uncomfortable to just interrupt them like that.
"Honestly," Levy sighed. She waved to someone behind me. A minute later, Jet and Droy appeared and sat on either side of Levy. They smiled at me, and I smiled back. Jet and Droy were nice, but boring. They were incredibly attached to Levy, though. "See? You have no excuse now. Go on. Five minutes." Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of my seat and picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. My arms were heavy. "Oh, lunch is gonna end soon," Levy said suddenly. "I'll see you in class, 'kay? I have to stop by my locker, so I'm going now." She jumped to her feet, picked up her messenger bag, and smiled brightly at me over her shoulder. "Good luck, Lu! I'm rooting for you." She winked, and then she left the cafeteria. I sighed, watching my lifeline disappear into the hallway, followed by her two groupies.
"Right..." Just get this over with. I walked toward the table where the friends of the mystery guy were laughing boisterously. They didn't notice me at all. I took a long, deep breath and tapped the guy on the shoulder. He turned around, still smiling. When he saw me, his eyes clouded with something like confusion. Great. "Um, hi," I said, mustering a fake smile. "Sorry to bother you. I just, um, wanted to like, you know, uh, thank you for helping me at the beginning of the year?" My statement came out as a question, and I winced mentally. Failure, Lucy. Abort. Abort. But I kept standing there like an idiot.
"Um... Who are you, again?" The whole table laughed, some hiding it behind their hands and some doing it openly. The blood rushed to my cheeks so fast I felt dizzy. Of course he didn't recognize me. It was one time, six months ago! He probably hadn't cared at all. In fact, he had probably just wanted an excuse to miss some of Gym. I couldn't even blame him, because Gym was absolute hell.
"Actually, um, never mind. I must... I must have the wrong person. I'm really sorry to bother you." I spun on my heel and almost made my escape, but he grabbed my wrist.
"Wait! My bad, I remember you now. You're that girl who got lost on her way to English, right? I don't think I ever got your name." He grinned at me, and my pulse sped up. First he had no clue who I was, and suddenly he wanted my name? My head was seriously spinning now. Not knowing what to do, I panicked.
"Is your hair color natural?" Dear Lord, kill me now. The fading blush in my cheeks came back full-force, doubtlessly staining my face the color of a well-cooked lobster. The mystery guy just laughed, ruffling his bright pink hair.
"Pretty sure it is," he chuckled, glancing up at me under his lashes. "Want to touch it?" Yes. Yes, I did. I really wanted to touch his hair, for reasons my malfunctioning brain could not possibly fathom. So I lifted my hand, but then I realized he was still holding my wrist. His skin was warm on mine. Instead of pointing out that he was still restraining me, I lifted the other hand. Again, I had no clue why I didn't tell him. I just didn't.
His hair was spiky and soft, sticking up in all directions. There didn't seem to any gel in it, but I figured there was some sort of fancy product in there. Hair didn't naturally do that. But then again, hair wasn't naturally hot pink. He was full of mysteries.
Eventually I realized that I'd been touching his hair for way too long. I stepped back, my cheeks heating up. My wrist slipped from his hand, and I stared at it wistfully for a second. "My name's Natsu, by the way," Mystery Guy said, smiling at me. I blinked.
"Oh! Sorry, I never told you my name." I tugged on the hem of my shirt nervously. "I'm Lucy." His smile widened.
"Lucy, huh? That's–"
"Oi, numbskull!" another voice called across the table. I glanced up, startled. A boy with dark hair and a silver pendant glowered across the table at us. "Stop teasing that girl and hurry it up. The bell just rang." What? I hadn't heard the bell at all, but now I noticed that everyone was getting up and leaving the cafeteria. Most of Natsu's table had left, too, except for the dark-haired boy, a red-haired girl, and another girl with bright blue hair. I backed up another step.
"I should go," I said quietly before turning tail and hurrying away.
"Hey, wait!" Natsu called after me, but I was already turning into the hallway, biting my lip. I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten to talk to him more, or hear what he was going to say about my name, but at least I knew who he was. Natsu. It suited him, somehow. I hid a tiny smile. It suited him really well.
The next day, Levy and I were walking to AP English together, talking about the book we had been assigned. "I don't know about this one," Levy was saying. "I mean, what happened to Boo Radley? He just vanished after the first seventy or eighty pages. And I'm still confused about the title. What does she mean, 'to kill a mockingbird'?"
"It's a metaphor," I explained. "She's talking about innocence and cruelty, using the mockingbird as a symbol for people who haven't done anything deserving of punishment." Levy eyed me suspiciously.
"Did you read ahead again?" I shrugged. We were almost at the classroom door. There was an uneven line filing inside already. Others clustered outside the door, chatting and laughing. We began to shoulder our way through the crowd.
"It's a good book," I said simply.
"What is?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"We've been talking about it for the last–" I broke off as it hit me that Levy had definitely not asked the question. For one thing, the voice was male. I looked up slowly to see Natsu leaning casually against the doorframe. "Um, hi."
"Hey," he said, smirking. "What book were you talking about?" Levy nudged me and slipped past us into the classroom, leaving me to fish for an answer. The surprise of seeing Natsu in front of my classroom had knocked all coherent thought right out of my head.
I cleared my throat. "Our English book. Um, you know..." I bit my lip. "To Kill a Mockingbird." That was it. Thank you, brain. Natsu smiled easily at me.
"I might read it sometime. It's good, right?" I nodded.
"Yeah." I glanced at the door to the classroom. "You should probably go if you don't want to be late." He nodded, but didn't make any move to leave. "Did you need something?' I asked. I really didn't want to make him late a second time, even if he was missing Gym. He hesitated, then pulled away from the wall. I hadn't noticed how much taller than me he was. He had at least three or four inches on me.
Leaning down so he was at eye-level with me, he said, "What class did you have before this?" My lips parted in surprise. For a moment, all I could do was stare at him. "What?" he asked self-consciously, straightening. He put a hand on the back of his neck, drawing my eyes to his ears. The tips were red, and it occurred to me that he was embarrassed. I laughed softly to myself. It was adorable on him.
"Why do you want to know?" I asked. He raised his eyes to the ceiling in a pleading gesture.
"Just because. C'mon, tell me. I'm not letting you go to class until you say it." My gaze drifted back to the English room. The hallways were starting to empty out, the rumble of voices dying to a buzz. I sighed, crossing my arms.
"I had Acting," I said slowly, as if I were actually reluctant to tell him what classes I had when. He grinned at me, and my heart did a little dance. I'd tell him my whole schedule if he'd smile at me like that.
"Okay, thanks. Do me one more favor?" I rolled my eyes.
"Fine, what is it?"
"Wait for me after class. I'll walk with you to your next class." Before I could say anything, he turned and walked away. I sighed with a smile and slipped into the English room. The bell rang just as I sat next to Levy. She shot me a look and a grin. I smiled back, excited beyond words. It was the first time I'd wanted English to hurry up and end.
Just like Natsu had asked, I waited outside the classroom for him. My eyes couldn't stop scanning the passing students for his distinctive hair, but I couldn't seem to find. Eventually, my English teacher poked his head out of his room. "Lucy, you're still here? The bell's about to ring." I nodded slowly.
"I'm waiting for someone." He smiled a little sadly and gestured for me to come inside his room.
"Well, you won't make it to your next class in time. I'll write you a pass." I followed him inside, glancing behind me like Natsu might appear out of thin air, still grinning like an idiot. Of course he wouldn't. I bit my lip hard and marched back into the classroom.
I drifted through the rest of the day blankly, barely listening to what was happening around me. Levy didn't say anything to me. She just took one look at me during lunch and dragged me back out of the cafeteria, into the bathroom. She gave me a hug, and then we leaned against the wall together, not talking. When the bell for the next period rang, she stopped me as I turned to leave, cupping my face in her hands and staring me straight in the eyes. "He's a jerk, okay?" I nodded. That's not true. "He can't be anything else, Lucy. He promised to come get you and he didn't. He hasn't even come looking for you since then. What kind of decent human being does that? He's the worst. A total douche." She let go, stepped back. A corner of her mouth lifted. "You'll be fine. We'll find ourselves some sweet, dependable guys, okay? Ones that don't go to this school. The guys here are all dicks." I nodded, mirroring her tiny half-smile.
"Okay. Thanks, Levy. I don't know what I'd do without you." I gave her a swift hug, and we left the bathroom to head to our last classes of the day. For me, that meant Economics. Levy had Foods, in the opposite direction. I took the stairs two at a time, worried I was going to be late. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I ran right into her.
"Oh," I said, looking up to see a girl with white hair in pixie cut sitting on the stairs where she'd fallen. "I'm really sorry." I offered her a hand, but another person was already pulling her to her feet.
"You okay, Lisanna?" Natsu asked her, brushing her off and looking concerned. The way he looked at her put me on edge. My fingers tightened on the strap of my bag convulsively. "Hey," he said glancing up, "You should really watch–" Surprise coated his features as he registered who I was. "Lucy!" I lowered my eyes to the steps in front of me and took off, running up the stairs and swinging around the corner. I nearly plowed into more people, narrowly avoiding them at the last second. I turned another corner and slowed down, entering my Econ classroom at a normal speed. My teacher smiled at me as I came in, but I looked away, sliding into a seat in the back next to someone in a heavy black sweatshirt. It was Gajeel.
"Hey, you're that Lucy chick, right?" he asked me. I shrugged. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him. "Aren't you friends with Levy McGarden?" I blinked, allowing him to draw my attention. Interesting.
"Yeah, we're good friends. Did you need something from her?" He withdrew into his sweatshirt.
"No." Despite myself, I giggled. "What?" he growled. "Something funny?" I smiled at him.
"If you want to talk to her, I can arrange it." His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but finally closed it when no sound came out. "If you give me your number, we can all hang out sometime." He humphed loudly, but he rattled off his cell number for me. I scribbled it on my wrist quickly. "Great, thanks." He eyed me suspiciously, but the teacher started calling the class to order, and we both faced front. Ms. Alberona was known for throwing things at students who weren't paying attention.
Once class was over, I waved bye to Gajeel (who ignored me moodily) and left the classroom, trying not to think about Natsu or his cute friend or the fact that I really did liked him. I focused on how happy Levy was going to be when I told her that Gajeel wanted to hang out with her. She'd have to work on the blushing, though. And the stutter. I laughed to myself as I turned the last corner and started down the stairs.
"What's so funny?" My smile froze on my lips and I stopped laughing. My train of thought broke down on the question, Why is he here?
Natsu stood in the middle of the staircase, looking at me. Not smiling, for once, just looking. Almost scowling, really. "Why do you care?" I shot back, congratulating my brain on being so clever. I managed to make my legs move again, but he moved to block my way. The people passing us gave us funny looks and kept walking, occasionally glancing back and whispering to their friends. "Can you let me past?" I asked him coolly. "I have things to do." He moved up another step so we were face-to-face. I backed up, trying to get myself some desperately-needed space, but he followed me.
"Can we talk?" he asked. I wrapped my fingers around my opposite elbow protectively, as if I could ward him off by doing this.
"Is there something in particular you wanted to say? I'm busy." He reached forward and grabbed my wrist. I flinched.
"Just come with me, okay? We really need to talk." He pulled me down the stairs and into a deserted hallway before I could protest. I glanced around uncomfortably. I didn't want to be alone with him. "Lucy."
"What?" I said tartly. "What the hell do you want from me, Natsu?" He frowned.
"I don't want anything from you..." he said slowly. "I just wanted to explain."
I walked past him towards the safe crowds of high schoolers. Just a little farther... "Well, you don't need to explain anything. It doesn't matter, so just leave me alone."
"What do you mean, it doesn't matter?" He grabbed my wrist again, but I twisted away, holding it out of his reach. "It matters to me," he said softly, letting his hand drop back to his side.
"If it matters so much to you, why didn't you show up?" I was making too big of a deal out of this, I knew. It was just walking with me to a class. He wasn't my babysitter. It was silly to blow it so out-of-proportion. But it was important to me. He had made me so excited about it, it was a huge letdown when he didn't show up. And then there was that girl with him, Lisanna. They seemed really close.
"I got held after class by the gym teacher," he said calmly. "He was mad that I was late, and he made me stay after for the same length of time as the amount of class I missed. I didn't mean to make you wait. I'm really sorry." I sighed. Of course he had a reasonable explanation. It wasn't like he'd purposely broken his promise.
"Okay, fine. Sorry to be difficult. See you around." I turned away and started back toward the main hallway.
"Hang on," Natsu said, reaching out but stopping himself from grabbing me for a third time. "Is that it?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Was there more you wanted to say?" He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and stared at the floor.
"Not really, I mean..."
I sighed. "Then I think I should go. I have things to do." Things that involved curling up in a ball on my bed and thinking up ways to avoid Natsu at all costs.
"Can I have your number?" he blurted. I stopped walking, afraid to look back at him. I listened to the sound of his footsteps behind me, and then he was standing in front of me again. I glanced at his ears – they were glowing red.
"No," I said impulsively. He deflated at least an inch, disappointment written all over his face. "But you can give me yours," I continued. Natsu perked up so fast I thought he might pop from the force of it.
"Really?" He held up a hand almost as soon as the words left his mouth, looking away. "Wait, no, don't answer that. I don't want to know." He pulled a sharpie out of his pocket and uncapped it with his teeth, holding the cap in his mouth. "Gimme your arm," he said thickly. I held out my right arm and pushed up the sleeve, revealing the number I had written there earlier. Above the number I had written in all-caps, CALL GAJEEL ASAP ;). Natsu stared at it, then spat out the sharpie cap. It clattered to the floor, making a surprising amount of noise for a piece of hollow plastic. "What the hell?" he growled. I frowned.
"What?" Natsu jabbed the pen at Gajeel's phone number.
"Why do you have some guy's number, and why is it so important to you?" I gaped at him.
"Seriously? It's a favor for a friend. Why do you care?"
"Because it bothers me that you have other guys' phone numbers!"
"Well, it bothers me to see you with that Lisanna girl, but I don't go around interrogating you about her!" I snapped.
"Where did that come from?" Natsu asked. "Lisanna and I are close friends, which I would have told you if you had asked. Were you seriously that jealous just seeing us together before?" Fine. Fine! He wanted to know, I'd tell him. I'd shut him up, and then we could go back to the days when he barely knew I existed and I was only vaguely aware of him. That was fine.
"Because I like you! Because I really, really like you, okay? That's why I get jealous when I see you with a girl you obviously care about a lot!" I inhaled a lungful of air and blew it back out. Then I stepped around him, frozen like a statue where he stood, and walked the last few feet to the main hallway. Just as I was about to turn the corner, Natsu's voice stopped me.
"I like you too, you know."
I turned around slowly, terrified that if I made any sudden movements, I would discover that this was a dream, or a hallucination. That the moment would break, and I would be left broken with it. But Natsu's brilliant, cheerful smile greeted me, searing itself into my vision. "I really, really like you. That's why I get jealous when I see you with other guys' numbers on your arm and a winky face next to it."
I sighed. "That really was just a favor for Levy, you know." He shrugged.
"And Lisanna and I really are just friends who have known each other since we were babies, but liking someone doesn't make sense. You know what I mean?" I smiled back reluctantly.
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
THREE DAYS LATER – SATURDAY
"Jeez, where are they?" I complained, attempting to rub life back into my dead fingers. "I'm gonna start losing body parts soon." I glanced over at Gajeel, who was standing impassively with his arms crossed, staring off into space. "Aren't you freezing?" I asked him irritably. He wasn't even wearing a winter coat, even though the temperature was below freezing. He shook his head.
"HEY!" someone shouted from across the square, running and waving her arm. Levy. Finally. Gajeel focused on her, brows drawing together in concentration. I grinned, laughed, and waved back at her. "Hey, Lu," she said, her breathing shallow when she reached us. "Sorry to make you wait." I smiled at her, leaning in close.
"Where have you been?" I whispered through gritted teeth. "I've been standing in the cold waiting for you with this weirdo for ten minutes, Levy! Must I remind you that I'm doing you a huge favor here?" She grimaced.
"Sorry," she whispered back. "I had trouble getting ready." I sighed and offered her an encouraging smile.
"Well, you're here now. Go talk to him!" She nodded, took a deep breath, and approached Gajeel cautiously. She gave the impression that she was trying to get close to a small animal without scaring it away. I suppressed a laugh and turned my gaze back to the parking lot. A red pickup was just pulling into the spot closest to us, and I could mostly make out Natsu in the driver's seat.
"He's late," I muttered to myself.
He got to us a minute later, laughing sheepishly. "Sorry I took so long," he said as a greeting. "There were complications." I rolled my eyes, but I accepted his hug gratefully. For some reason, he was always warm, so contact with him was like sitting in front of a woodstove.
"Come on," I said, taking his hand and leading him towards the mall on the other side of the square. "It's way too cold out to hang around here."
"What are we doing today?" he asked me, squeezing my hand tightly in his. I glanced back at Levy and Gajeel, who were very awkwardly attempting to have a conversation. I smiled.
"How do you feel about watching them act like idiots over lunch and a movie?" Natsu released my hand suddenly and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
"Since it's with you, it sounds perfect."
Do you see what I mean about OOC? I'm really sorry. Unless you liked it. Then I'm not sorry at all. Remember to review, favorite and follow! Hope you liked it, gwb620!