One Of The Boys

Lisanna

Don't, Lucy groaned mentally. Don't look all worried and cute. Stop it.

When she didn't respond, he changed the subject. "You comin' to pitch? Gray just got a new bat."

Lucy's throat was tight; her voice was a squeak when she spoke. "Uh—raincheck," She mumbled, looking straight ahead rather than at her best friend. "I just...I've got some errands to run."

"Oh," Natsu said. "I'll come with."

"No!" Lucy cried; she froze, desperately trying to calm her voice down. "I mean, nah. It's fine. You guys go hit the ball around. I'll be pretty busy for the rest of the night, so..."

It was the first lie she'd ever told Natsu. The thought stung in her chest, but she couldn't stand to be out there, playing ball with the boys, thinking about Natsu dancing with Lisanna and kissing Lisanna and whatnot. She needed to lie down, drown in her own sorrows for a bit.

She still wouldn't explicitly say why she had sorrows—she refused to admit her feelings even to herself in the privacy of her own mind.

"Okay," Natsu replied, sounding a bit glum. "You sure? It's never fun without you there."

She gave him a quick glance, tightening her messy ponytail from beneath her baseball cap. "Positive. I'll see you tomorrow."

The pink haired boy frowned. "Can we at least have a sleepover?" His lips spread into that classic Natsu grin. "I'll bring your favorite chocolate."

"Um," Lucy stammered, heart beating quickly in her chest. Here he was, puppy dog eyes begging and his lip all pouty. How the hell was she supposed to say no to that? Cringing, knowing she'd never be able to escape her depressed thoughts about the dance, Lucy nodded. "Yeah—sounds great!"

That seemed to brighten his day—the sight of his eyes lighting up after her agreeing to a sleepover sort of made her heart ache. And then, he'd high-fived her goodbye as he dashed off to the baseball field, leaving her standing there, on the sidewalk outside of her house, heart heavy.

She wasn't sure why she felt so glum, but she didn't question it. She was just protective, she'd reminded herself. She was protective about Natsu going to the dance with another girl. Just like he'd been when Brad tried to confess his love for Lucy.

It was friendly. That's all.

Lucy made her way into her house, greeting her father, who had already made it home from work.

"How was school, princess?" He asked. He always called her princess—probably trying to subtly manipulate her out of being a tomboy.

Lucy shrugged, her mind not being able to focus on anything other than Natsu going to the dance with Lisanna. "It was okay. How was your day?"

"Great," Jude said. "Hey—take a look at this. Another pamphlet from that all-girls prep school came in the mail. How odd. Let's look at it."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "What a coincidence," She blabbered, playing along with her father's ruse. She was well aware how desperately he wanted his daughter to attend the school—if only for the summer camp—in order to mold her into the perfect little lady he'd always wanted. They looked at the photos. She couldn't deny, the school was impressive—but not really her thing. "Amazing as always, dad."

She forced a smile onto her face, not wanting to get into an argument with him—not now, when she was already miserable. Her father took her smile as progress; the idea that she might be warming up to the girls' school excited him.

"It really is amazing. And you'd fit in so well. You'd make some female friends!"

Lucy sighed. "I don't need female friends."