Junior year and they were stuck together again. Every class and even lunch. Lucy and Natsu just couldn't seem to get away from each other. Some people wondered if they'd bribed the office to give them identical schedules, while others questioned their relationship. To be honest, Lucy only saw Natsu as just a friend, a best friend, to be specific. They'd gotten to know each other freshman year by being assigned to sit beside each other in homeroom, as well as most other classes in the year. After a couple of days people started to notice that Natsu and Lucy went everywhere together. In the library, they'd study together. They'd sit together at lunch, and walk home together. They were rarely seen apart from each other. Until one day Lucy started to hear rumors as she was in the ladies room. Girls always loved to talk, and never seemed to notice if people are listening.
She had only wanted to go to the restroom. She wasn't planning on listening in on a group of sophomores with the topic of her and Natsu.
"Did you hear about those juniors in Mr. Conbolt's class?"
"Yeah I heard they've been together since freshman year?"
"You mean they're dating?" The girls giggled.
"That's what everyone is saying." They giggled some more, Lucy heard as their voices trailed off into the hallway.
She noticed when she had walked out to the sinks that her cheeks were on fire and she was extremely confused. Natsu and I aren't dating! Who would think we're dating? As she tried to calm herself down, her thoughts kept rebelling. She was so confused. As she walked back to class, she imagined herself and Natsu. They always spent time together. He'd maker her laugh, and infuriate her within moments of each other. He would always think of her. She could feel her cheeks heating again.
When she returned back to Mr. Conbolt's chemistry class, she realized she had to sit down next to Natsu, which made her cheeks an even deeper shade of red. What is wrong with me?
"Hey Luce... Luce, you okay? Your face is really red." Dammit, he noticed, she thought.
"Uh, I'm fi-fine." She tried, and failed, to calm herself down. It's okay Lucy, only five minutes until the bell rings, and then lunch. Her eyes went wide. Crap, we eat lunch together too. She kept her eyes down, refusing to acknowledge Natsu was beside her. Focus. Chemistry, the periodic table, the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. That's biology. Mavis, save me!
When the bell finally rang, Lucy bolted from her lab station and ran out the door. At least her locker wasn't next to his. She grabbed her lunch, looked at her face in the black screen of her phone, and took a deep breath. She took a step forward and made her way to their usual lunch spot.
It was outside on the hill beside the school. They'd eat under a huge maple tree. She could see he was waiting for her with a worried look on his face.
"Lucy are you sure you're okay? You ran away like you were being chased by a monster." He laughed a little, but looked back at her, concern set deep on his face.
She hesitated, but answered him. "Yeah, I just heard some girls gossiping in the bathroom earlier. But it's nothing." She smiled and sat down next to him. She prayed she could just eat her lunch in peace.
The prayers were short-lived. Before she could take her first bite the girls from the bathroom passed as they were walking to have lunch themselves, and she could hear them giggling. One girl was brave enough to shout to them. "Get a room!" This made Lucy's blood boil.
Natsu looked up confused with half a sandwich in his mouth. He moved his attention to the group of girls looking their way. Then he turned to Lucy, obviously confused. She shrugged and the girls snickered, walking on down the hill.
"Wha was thad aw about?" Natsu said between chewing.
"Uh, I don't know. And can you chew with your mouth closed?" She glared at his lack of manners. He merely grunted and waved her off, continuing to eat.
Lucy sighed then, and before she could think otherwise, the words came out. "Natsu, do you like me?" Her cheeks set fire once again as she realized what she had just said. She looked at Natsu to see what he'd say.
"What do you mean, Luce? You're my best friend. Of course I like you!" He said and looked at her so innocently. He was so oblivious. He laughed, "You sure do have a stupid expression, Luce!"
She shoved him over and he almost rolled down the hill they were on. Oh how nice that would've been.
She laughed a little and decided she should just eat her lunch and get over it. It'd hurt her brain too much trying to explain things to him.