A/N: Good news! I messaged the author who copied my story and they took it down! Thanks a lot for everyone's support. This chapter's on you!
09
Crisis of touch
Previously, on "How to Seduce a Lady": "Oh, I forgot to tell you-" Gray chased after me, "I know her." I wasn't interested in anything he had to say. "I'm friends with her, you know? Lucy Heartfilia."
The famous feeling of an earthquake returned to the pit of my stomach.
I slammed the backpack on my chair, slumping down in my seat just before the bell rang. It was weird to actually get there before any teacher came, and I kind of felt proud to do this for a change. But my happiness was short-lived, and I furrowed my brows in an attempt to analyze Gray's actions earlier. He told me that he knew blondie, and when I tried asking him about it, he yelled out some lame excuse about being late for class and ran off before I got a chance to act.
The other students pretended to hide their surprise when they saw me enter the classroom without smelling like a winery, and actually looking like I slept for once. I ignored the looks and murmurs coming from all directions around me, and instead tried thinking of probable ways Gray could have met blondie.
It was highly possible that they were in the same class or something, but he'd never mentioned her before in his life, and I hadn't seen them in the same classroom even once. Not that I'd seen her anywhere else either… After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I didn't know a single thing about her existence before slamming her tray with the door a few weeks ago. We'd coexisted in the same time and space, walked down the same hallways every day, eaten the same cafeteria lunches, and shared the same air; yet I never managed to notice her.
It didn't surprise me that I wouldn't notice her now; I mean, my head's in the clouds every moment of every day, but I was surprised that I hadn't noticed her before. Back, way back when I was the same as any other student, and when there were other things on my mind besides girls and what I'm going to drink at the pub. Back when my circle of friends wasn't the first couple of idiots I came across.
Believe it or not, I was actually quite a normal guy. I had grades much better than the ones I have now, even though I can always make them into straight As when all is said and done. My morning routine didn't consist of throwing on the first pair of jeans I saw and washing my mouth with whiskey. I didn't analyze every girl I saw walking down the street, and I'd even had a few decent girlfriends. I went out with my friends and I could actually have some fun without having to start the night off with vodka. I was even on the track and field club.
Every day I'd walk through the doors of the school with Erza and Gray, talking our way across the hall to where Gajeel and Jellal were arguing about last night's baseball game. We weren't the most popular group or anywhere near the cool kids you saw bullying the smaller ones, but we were content with ourselves. It was a group where Erza would yell out her lungs for your own good, Gray would help you out with your social standings, Jellal would tutor you in any subject you had problems with, and Gajeel would punch a hole through whoever called you 'dipshit' when you held up the line in McDonalds because you couldn't decide the size of fries you want.
"Good morning class," the voice of the teacher brought me back to reality momentarily, and I lost track of my thoughts. What had I been pondering before my mind wandered towards the past? Ah, yes, I was wondering how Gray knew blondie.
Them taking classes together was out of the question, since Gray had been in the same class with me the first two years, and he hadn't gone to school half of this year. I'd never seen them together either. So I guessed he knew her from another place. Cousins? Highly unlikely, since I knew every family member Gray had. My mind stopped for a moment, and I felt some sort of sickening taste gather in my mouth. Were they in a relationship before? Did they date? Maybe it was a fling? A one night stand? But Gray wasn't that kind of person that would just sleep with anybody. But I'd only known him from the moment we entered high school. Maybe she was his serious girlfriend from before?
I didn't know why thinking about them dating made me feel like vomiting, but I guessed it was because blondie wasn't a good match for him. Blondie wasn't a good match for anyone.
"—and that is why cows can't walk downstairs." I tuned into the most random part of the 'lecture'. "Any questions?"
My hand shot up before I got a chance to actually think this through, and the teacher allowed me to speak.
"Why does thinking about a certain girl make me sick?" Needless to say the classroom went dead silent before everyone erupted into fits of laughter. I wasn't sure that even one person in the room took me seriously, but the teacher actually pondered the problem for a while. We had sociology and for some godforsaken reason we could ask questions like this and the teacher wouldn't treat us like retards. The class thought that I was joking as usual, since it was a hobby of mine to make fun of the teachers. But it benefited me that they didn't stop to think that I was actually being serious.
"Make you sick, hmm?" She thought for a moment, scratching her chin like she always did whenever she was asked something as stupid as this. "Do you hate that person?"
"Maybe?" My mind skipped past all those times I made her feel like shit, and all those moments I couldn't stand being in the same room with a person as pathetic as her. My thoughts stopped at the most recent turn of events, when I actually got to spend some time with her and see that she wasn't the person I thought her to be. She was actually pretty… normal. "Actually, I don't think so, no. I don't hate her."
Our professor raised a brow, patterns of confusion gliding across her blue eyes as she added bits and pieces of information in her head. "So, you don't hate her. What bothers you in particular about this person?"
"What bothers me?" I raked my brain for answers. Funny, had you asked me this a week ago, I would pull out a fucking list and some things would still be left out. But now, it seemed as though I couldn't quite remember what. "Well, I don't know all the things I want to know about her."
"So you're curious. What kind of things?"
"Her relationship with my best friend." The words came out with a venomous note, almost being spat out on the floor only to be trampled over.
Her eyes lit up as though she'd seen some sort of fucking green light, "You're jealous." I was about to laugh my lungs out, but she continued. "Do you like this person?"
"Fucking hell I don't!" I shouted, feeling the strong need to justify myself, "I will never like her."
The teacher's eyes got that look someone gets when they get the best cards in a poker game, or that look when you sit down in front of a test you've actually studied for. "I see." The bell rang, but I stayed sitting still even though the others got bored and went out for our next class. It seemed as though she waited for everyone else to exit the room before telling me her theory. "I think you're starting to like her but your brain refuses to let that happen because you don't think you should." I wanted to protest, but my words were cut short, "Maybe you think she's a bad choice. Or maybe you think she's beneath you." I felt a hit in my stomach, "Or maybe deep down you know that you don't deserve that person."
"Or maybe you're just full of shit."
The loud sound of my chair hitting the tiles on the floor blocked the echoes of my steps as I walked away from where she was standing.
"All I'm saying is, if you're already in a lava-filled space battle station, you should've at least packed your chainsaw." I stared at Sting as he tried to prove something to Rogue who was too busy with not caring.
My eyes were barely kept open, as I used the cafeteria's white plastic fork to shove around the rubbery scrambled eggs on my plate. I had no appetite, which was probably due to me having an actual breakfast this morning, which was already one meal too much for my always empty stomach to handle. Sting kept going on and on about battle axes and whatnot, and Rogue kept nodding his head while scooping up a spoonful of the sticky frozen yoghurt they gave out to vegans here.
"I don't understand what you don't understand about my game plan," Sting continued rambling.
"I don't understand how you don't understand what I don't understand when it's completely not understandable for me to understand it." Rogue countered, and my head started hurting from their randomness.
"I don't understand." Sting deadpanned, reaching out to take my cellphone with his greasy hands. "I'll prove to you that zombies would win in a fight against aliens." I rolled my eyes, too tired to care about whatever it was they were talking about, and Sting kept going. "I know Natsu has that one picture of last year's comic con where I cosplayed as a—" the plastic fork he was holding with his other hand dropped to the table, "—what the hell, Natsu?"
I raised a brow at him, "What?"
"You tell me," he turned the phone so that the screen was now facing me, and I felt my feet go cold at the sight of blondie's sleeping face. I totally forgot I had that picture. I totally forgot I charged the phone in my car. I totally forgot that I was a fucking maniac.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I choked out, stuffing some of the eggs in my mouth, as Sting showed the picture to Rogue.
"I think you do," he countered, staring at the photo for a few moments before going on, "Dude, I know you don't have a type but come on. At least have some standards, man. Why the hell would you sleep with her? Out of all the girls in the world, her? And I thought I was the weird one." A small laugh escaped both of them, "But I have to admit this is hilarious stuff."
"I agree," Rogue added for the first time, "I didn't take you as a person who would try everything on the menu."
"How fat is she really?" Sting butted in, "Did you have trouble managing all that hugeness of her body? Imagine if she was on top and—"
"My friend sent me the picture," I lied, coming up with the first thing on my mind.
"Then why is it in the camera folder?"
I inwardly cursed Rogue's intellect.
"Alright you got me, I took the picture but it wasn't in my house. I went to her dorm." When they didn't seem to catch on to what I way saying, I elaborated, "I slept with her roommate once, so I went there again and it kind of got hectic."
"Oh yeah, I heard about that." Sting mumbled, "Something about you running around the girls' dormitory and causing trouble. But I never thought that this would be the reason." He pushed back his hair, "Oh well, it's not that fun anymore. I'm off to chemistry."
He walked away, not bothering to clean up the mess he made on the table in the cafeteria. I swallowed the bite I wasn't even aware I was still chewing, and felt the angst leave my lungs for the first time these past few minutes. That was close. So damned close.
"So you went to her room to visit her roommate." Rogue's voice sliced through the air, and I nodded to confirm. I contemplated whether to throw away the rest of my meal or eat it. "That still doesn't explain why you took a picture."
After that comment, he got up and left me sitting alone. I watched the back of his figure move towards the door, a feeling of irritation bubbling up inside me the hundredth time that day. I slammed my tray against the wastebasket, watching the contents of my meal drop down.
I lost my appetite long ago.
Cursing whoever invented algebra, I was walking toward my next class when the voice of blondie stopped me in my tracks. I almost didn't catch the fact that the sound of her voice now had the power to make me stop whatever I was doing. I followed the direction it came from, and noticed that she was walking right behind me. Not wanting to seem like some sort of weird stalker, I kept going forward and listening in on her conversation.
"—average of ten." She finished whatever it was she had been taking about.
"I see," I was surprised to hear a male voice, "Thanks for that. I was really terrified since I know absolutely nothing about biology."
"No problem," I could practically hear the smile in her voice.
"You're kind of cool, Heartfilia." I resisted the urge to turn around and see who had the balls to talk to a girl I already took home with me. The familiar revolution in my intestines returned at once, as though she had some sort of power against my stomach. Maybe it was that medicine she gave me that one time.
"Thank you." A small giggle voiced over my thoughts, and I almost felt repulsed by the fact that she actually talked to someone who wasn't me.
"No prob. Oh, and about arrhythmia, when we—" The rest of the sentence died off as they entered their classroom. I turned to look around and see that I had passed the computer lab ages ago, lost in the world I'd intruded in. their classroom door shut closed before I got a chance to look inside, and my curiosity wasn't satisfied. So she made some new friends, huh. Big deal. Let her have her fun.
And I suddenly felt like skipping computer science.
Tasteless. The only way I could think of describing her mouth was tasteless. My hands stopped trying to feel every inch of her body since I felt like I couldn't really touch anything. My tongue stopped trying to find desire where it clearly wasn't. I even opened my eyes.
Kissing a random person always excited me at least a bit in the past, and when I saw a girl ditching whatever class she had out on the benches by the school entrance, I decided to go for it one more time. I never thought I'd actually regret making out with someone. It surprised me when I wished I'd stayed in class. What was happening to me? Where did all that lust go? Is something wrong with my body right now?
"You seem tense," her voice breached my thoughts, and I looked down at her. A black-haired green-eyed beauty with the body of a supermodel. She had a yin-yang tattoo on her shoulder, and another one of a feather on the left side of her neck. I stared down at them, losing track of what she was saying.
"I guess I'm tired." My reply came out robotically.
"No, you don't seem tired. It's more like…" she traced her finger across my chest, and I felt disgusted to be touched by a random person I didn't know, even though I had a shirt on, "… it's more like you're… not interested in this. In me."
"hmm…" I let my mind wander astray, "nah."
"Actually, I think I'm right." She got up from the bench, taking her backpack with her, "You're probably just bored with girls."
I didn't stop her from leaving.
The empty space next to me didn't stay that way for long.
I felt the presence of someone enter my comfort zone, even though my eyes were closed against the rays of the dim sunlight. School probably finished a few minutes ago, since I heard the last bell ring. That meant that it would be dark soon, and I would have to drag my lazy ass up and all the way home.
I stayed in my slouched position for a while more, not paying attention to the person next to me. A flipping of pages was the only constant rhythm of sound, and I felt even more tired than before. While I made a list of pros and cons about sleeping on a bench in my head, I felt my skin perk up at the slight touch of a finger.
I opened my eyes and came face to face with blondie. She had her forefinger poked at my upper arm, and an amused expression on her face. I felt my skin burn under her touch, alarmed at the sudden contact. It was such a small connected surface, yet I felt it. She saw me open my eyes, and removed her hand to my great dismay. "Wanted to see if you're sleeping." When I didn't reply anything and just kept staring at her, she mumbled, "You'll feel sore later."
"You'll feel sore later." I shot out automatically, a small grin finding its way on my lips.
"I'm not the one sleeping on a bench." She replied, rolling her eyes at me. I watched her go back to reading, unable to tear away my eyes from her hand. Why the hell did she touch me like that? What did she do? It was hard to believe that just a moment ago I was one hundred percent convinced I couldn't ever feel anything again. I shook my head to clear away the thoughts. It was getting dark, and she closed the book since it was probably hard to read with no lighting.
"Don't you have some sort of one night stand you should be preparing for?"
"Good one. And no." I felt the frustration form before die down. I glanced over at her figure, hidden well beneath the sweater she wore yesterday. Did anyone notice that she was wearing the identical clothes she wore the day before? Did they start even more rumors about her? Probably not, since all her clothes looked alike anyway. I felt the corners of my lips tug upward at the thought of her wearing the same clothes because she slept over. There was some sort of satisfaction to knowing a secret nobody else could even come close to imagining.
Like I couldn't even come close to imagining the body this girl actually had. I stole another glance towards her, trying to see past the volumes of wool and onto the slim waist I'd witnessed the night before.
"So what are your plans for tonight? Planning to break into some random house and play sleepover?"
"No, I was planning on whoring around in exchange for a bed." She raised a brow.
"Then you're more than welcome at my house." I felt a grin stretch out my lips, "I promise I don't have any weird fetishes."
A fake laugh escaped her lips, "Oh really? I bet you have one of those weird things where you like smelling a girl's armpits."
"I like smelling a girl's unshaved armpits, yes." I added, and her laughter seemed real this time.
"It's a damn shame you won't find a girl to make all your creepy fantasies come true."
"It's a damn shame you're desperate and willing to grow out your armpit hair for me." Her giggles were even louder this time, and I felt my chest swell up with pride for a second. What the fuck? Was I happy about making her laugh? No fucking way.
"I'm sure you'll find some hippie one day. She'll be a naturalist and she'll have hair everywhere."
"I'm getting sick from all this hair talk," I said, shaking my head in an attempt to cleanse my soul from all the disturbing images that flashed by. "I'm serious though. If you want to stay, my door's open."
She cocked her head to the side, "Is this a joke?" He eyes darted around, "Where are the hidden cameras?" She suddenly got a look saying she was disgusted, "Or do you actually expect me to sleep with you?"
"Holy fuck, no. I wouldn't even touch you." But I would.
"Then why are you acting all noble? Feeling bad that you tortured me in the past and now you want to make it up to me?"
"It's more like: feeling bad that nobody wants you." Feeling bad that somebody might.
"Ha ha, very funny." A strand of blonde hair fell across her eyes, and she used her hand to push it away. "What's in it for you, huh? How do you benefit in this story?"
"I get to eat actual food." I deadpanned, and she actually laughed.
"So you want me helping around the house?" She asked finally, and I swallowed hard when images of her in a maid costume flashed across my mind. If her waist was so thin, who knew what the rest of her body looked like…
"Something like that, yeah."
"I feel like this is the universe's way of giving me a deal with satan himself." She slung her backpack on her right shoulder. "But what can I say, I'm desperate."
I had a million other questions. What about her parents? What about other relatives? Friends? Boyfriend? Classmates? Anyone? Since she was willing to share a house with me, it must mean she really had no other options.
As though she noticed my concern, she started talking, "I already spent one night there to know you're not a total creep. And you have your own flings so you won't need me for any sort of…" she choked on the word, "…entertainment. And anyways, I can always pull out a knife and chop off that pretty head of yours."
I smiled to show that the threat meant nothing to me, when it kind of shook me a little to be honest. But come on, I would never even attempt something with her. She was beneath me. Far, far below where I stood. She really was; wasn't she?
"You should stop at a supermarket." I heard her say from my left side, as I took a turn towards the nearest market.
"Anything you want to buy?"
"Duh," I could feel her look full of irony on me, even though I was watching the road, "We should get something to eat. I can probably cook something."
I stopped the smile threatening to escape, and had to look away from the streets for just a second. For the first time ever, I didn't feel the need to kick her out of my car like the rest of the girls. She was looking out the window, her head draped on the seat. I followed the small strands of hair sticking out from her messy bun, and my gaze slid down to her bare neck. How come I never noticed how slim it was? How soft it probably felt to the touch? If I were to bite her, would it turn red? She would have to wear her hair down.
The loud honk of a car siren woke me up from whatever dream-like state I was in, as I steered the car out of the way in panic. I tried not to show the concern on my face, but blondie's loud gasp made me realize she'd gotten scared as well.
"Who the fuck told you you knew how to drive?" She screamed, and I slowed down a little.
"Calm down, blondie. Be a man."
"Calm down? You're going to get us killed!"
"And whose fault do you think that is?"
"What?" Her scream echoed as I parked in front of a store. We sat in silence for a while, not one of us moving to leave the vehicle. I allowed myself a glance in her direction. The lights from the neon sign of the supermarket illuminated her face, casting shadows behind her. I could hear her ragged breathing as she tried to calm herself and that's when I noticed that she was actually genuinely frightened. To be honest, I didn't run us off the road, I just sped up a bit more than necessary. We didn't do anything against the rules, but the idiot driver in front of us honked when he saw the difference in speed. I guess she was just surprised.
For a while there I thought she was going to cry, but she didn't. My mind went back to the time she almost got felt up by our teacher and she didn't even flinch afterwards. I was sure she would scream bloody murder then, but she left the counselor's office without any signs of panic.
Just how tough was this girl?
"I'm sorry." I blinked in confusion. "I overreacted. You didn't do anything wrong." I didn't expect her to be the one to apologize, and I kind of felt the need to do it too, but I didn't have a reason to, so I didn't.
We stayed in the car for a while more, still somewhat reluctant to exit. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, waiting for some sort of loud outburst, but she kept quiet.
"Come on," I pushed open my door, jogging around the car to the passenger seat. I opened the door, and pulled her out. She eyed me in confusion as I slammed the door back into place, and took her hand. I ignored the pulsating warmth that radiated from the spot where our skin connected, and headed for the entrance of the supermarket, "I'm going to buy you some ice cream."
A/N: I'm back in business! Nice to be here with a new chapter!
NOTE: I messaged the author that copied my story and just added more vulgar sentences to it and asked them to take it down. I tried persuading them nicely and they finally agreed and deleted it. I'm glad they did because it was demoralizing me and I wanted to quit writing altogether. Thanks to everyone who reported them or commented on their story, and a big thank you to everyone who wrote me a review!
YOU are responsible for my good mood and inspiration and YOU are the reason this chapter is here today.
I deleted the note in place of the ninth chapter and added this instead.
I hope the wait for this chapter was worth it.
Sending out the warmest of hugs!
with keys, through flames! aye!
