One Of The Boys

Hottie

After a quick shower and a bite of toast, the boy was running down the sidewalk, hair a mess and messenger bag flying behind him. He'd passed by the Heartfilia's house, surprised to see Jude's car outside—but then, thinking about Jude led to thoughts of Lucy and he shut down the topic in his own inner dialogue. He didn't like to think of her—it hurt too much.

So he jogged to school, and by the time he stumbled through the front doors, he was heaving out heavy breaths. Gray, Gajeel and Laxus were waiting for him at his locker, snorting at how out of breath he was.

"You're never gonna be in the MLB if you can't even run to class."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "As long as I can bat it out of the park every time, I won't have to run." He let out a heavy breath. "What class you guys in?"

Gajeel grinned. "We checked the board. We're all in the same homeroom."

"Nice," Natsu said with a smile. Now, they'd be able to goof around all year together. His dark eyes flickered over to Gray, who was oddly focused on the crowds of teens surrounding them. "What's wrong with Gray?"

Gray didn't take his eyes off of a group of girls across the hall, but replied to Natsu's question. "Trying to scope out my next target."

"Ugh," Natsu groaned. "Would you quit that? You have no game—quit trying to pick up girls. Girls don't like you."

Gray snorted. "Says you."

"Girls like me!"

Gray turned, finally meeting Natsu's glare. "Have you lost your virginity? No? That's what I thought."

That seemed to shut the pink haired boy up, and the other boys laughed.

After a moment, Natsu spoke up. "So, whose the new conquest, then?"

"Haven't really decided, ye—" Gray began, but his voice cut off suddenly. In fact, the entire hallway had sort of gone silent—a true anomaly, considering there were dozens of teenagers. Gray's eyes were wide and after a long second, he muttered, "Who is that?"

Natsu smirked, laughing at his friend; then, his face erupted into a frown when he noticed the rest of the hallway falling silent. He followed Gray's glance, peering over the crowds towards the entrance to the school.

It was a girl standing by the front doors, brown eyes flickering around unsure as she assessed her surroundings. She didn't seem to notice that every single person in the hallway had their eyes trained on her; her face was expressionless but somehow still seemed to convey a twinge of sly happiness. She stood there for a long moment, and then her body angled itself to the left; her long legs pushed her forward.

Instantly, everyone in the hallway scrambled to the sides, opening up a long gap the entire hallway's length for her to walk—her very own little catwalk.

And boy, did she ever walk it. Long tanned legs sent her gracefully trotting down the walkway; with every step, she was pulling herself closer and closer to where Natsu and the boys were huddled against a locker.

The hallway was silent, but the second the girl strode past people, they began to whisper. Bit by bit, group by group, more whispers and words rumbled through the corridor. They talked about her—boys were whispering about how hot she was while the girls commented on her pretty dress or perfect hair or incredible confidence.

The way she walked down the hall immediately demanded attention—and she loved it. Her cheeks were a little red from everyone watching her and not-so-subtly hissing comments about her once she'd made her way past, but she had a little grin on her perfectly glossed lips that hinted that she was proud, understanding of how good she looked.