"Hey Lucy, sorry I'm late, babe."
Nastu spun around on his heels, immediately retreating back to his table with Gray, thankful she hadn't noticed him.
Gray was covering his mouth while his shoulders bounced up and down, muttering something about "the look on your face."
Ah great, he's laughing at me.
Nastu took his seat next to Gray, smacking the back of his head.
He stared at the pair from across the room. He watched as the guy said something, apparently funny enough to make the girl, Lucy, laugh.
The boy was fit, just barely taller than Natsu himself, and had spiky blond hair. His arms were toned, and it looked like he needed to buy a bigger size shirt, because the sleeves looked tight enough to make his veins bulge.
He had a perfect smile, his teeth both straight and white as he threw his head back laughing. He had a small scar above his right eye, but other than that Natsu had to admit the guy was attractive.
Still, Lucy was out of his league. Truthfully, she was in a league of her own.
Gray's laughs started to die down, and Natsu snapped out of his daze, turning his ear towards the conversation across the room.
"Quiet, Gray. I'm trying to listen."
For as long as he could remember, Natsu had an amazing sense of hearing and smell. At first, no one believed him, and it took a while for him to convince Gray he wasn't lying about it, but over time people made fun of him.
Saying he was some heightened senses freak, intentionally talking bad about him when he was around because they knew he could hear, and the list went on and on.
Honestly, it never bothered Natsu. He thought it was cool, and the other kids were just jealous. Sure, it had its downsides, but he loved it. It made him feel different, in a good way.
Natsu tried focusing on the conversation, but with the other people in the cafeteria, it was hard to make out the right conversation.
"I can't hear what they're saying!"
Gray shook his head, "That sounded really creepy."
"Whatever. Who is that guy?"
Gray's eyes widened at Natsu. Did he really not know who he was?
"That guy?! That guy is Sting Eucliffe! He's the quarterback for Fairy Tail's football team, are you serious?"
Natsu looked at Gray in disbelief, "A quarterback! Does that mean Lucy's a cheerleader?"
"Lucy?" Gray's eyebrows arched in curiosity.
"C'mon put two and two together, ice pick. That girl's name is Lucy."
"Yeah, I assumed you meant her. I wanna know how you know her name when you've never talked to her?"
Natsu looked down, fidgeting with his hands, "Oh, I uh sorta heard that Sting guy say her name earlier."
"So, what, she's got a brother?" Gray shrugged, "just talk to her next time you see her."
"Yeah, that's not her brother."
"Sure it's not, they both have blonde hair."
Natsu waited, but Gray stayed silent.
"And?"
"And what?"
"You think just because they're both blondes they're related. That's the only reason?"
"I'm sure there's more reasons, but from the looks of it—"
"He called her babe, Gray."
Gray paused.
"So then... maybe she's his..."
Gray squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something. As if on cue, Sting wrapped his arm around Lucy, pulling her close and kissing her cheek. Natsu gagged.
"Yeah I got nothing," he finished with a shrug.
Natsu exaggerated a sigh, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling. Guess this meant he'd have to move on. It shouldn't be too hard, he just found out her name after all. And on accident, too.
He wasn't sure why he was so caught up in it either. Natsu had never dated anyone before, not even held hands romantically. He'd only heard about it, or seen it in movies. Maybe Lucy wouldn't be the right person to have a first time relationship with.
"So that's it?" Gray asked.
Natsu gave Gray a side-eyed look.
"What do you mean so that's it? Obviously that's it, what am I supposed to do?"
"Fight for her! Show her you're the better man or something. Like in that one vampire movie! I heard girls like that."
"Something tells me you're no better at flirting than me, shrimp brain. That movie was Twilight, and it doesn't matter because you just went googly-eyes at the mention of Mr. Star Player and I don't chase after girls who are taken!"
Gray held his hands up in defense, "All right, give up, I don't care."
Natsu rubbed a hand over his face with an annoyed "ughhhhh."
"Nevermind," Natsu said.
He got up with his tray of food, and left without saying another word.
He didn't like her.
She was taken, and therefore, even if he did like her he didn't have a chance.
Even if he did like her and he tried to pursue her while she was in a relationship, it would reflect terribly on the kind of person he was.
And if she ended up leaving Sting for him, he would question the type of person she was.
So, no, Natsu refused to admit he liked her.
Even if he took the wrong way to his calculus class again, with the hope of passing by her.
He didn't like her.
Even if he slowed his pace to not be too early.
He didn't like her.
Even if he did end up getting there early and stood off to the side for a couple minutes before going up the escalator.
He didn't like her.
The second his watch changed to the next minute, he got on the step.
Sure enough, there she came, with her head down.
She was perfectly on time every week. Everything about her seemed perfect.
Maybe this time, he'd just smile at her. In a nice, non-creepy way, like she did to him.
They were crossing over, and Natsu looked at her with a genuine, soft smile.
She didn't look at him.
In fact, she seemed upset. Right before she passed behind him, he caught a glimpse of a slight shine on her face. Her cheeks were slightly red, and he swore he heard her sniffle. It was so subtle, he probably wouldn't have heard it had he not had sharp ears.
She was crying.
He wanted to turn around, maybe run after her like they were in some movie.
He didn't.
He reached the top of the escalator, watching her retreating form, and looking at his watch that read 9:30.
Natsu kept walking forward, on his way to calculus.
He had class, and she wasn't his problem.
X
Sorry this took a bit to write. Reviews are always appreciated, thank you!