One Of The Boys

Arcade

The next day, the boys had decided that, after attending school—they'd all gotten a call from the office and been rung out by their parents—they would head over to the local arcade. Natsu had told Lucy as they'd walked to school—she walked with Natsu now, rather than get a ride from her dad; she had to wear a pair of oxford's rather than her usual heels, but she figured it was worth it because she got to chat with Natsu. He'd invited her along, saying the fellas wouldn't mind if she'd come; Lucy had grinned and agreed, figuring this would be a perfect opportunity to try out her newfound sex appeal on both Natsu and Gray, hoping at least one of them would give her the reaction she craved.

So, after school, Natsu had walked her home—she insisted she needed to change her outfit; she mentioned something about how her clean white oxford's were totally night arcade outfit material. He hadn't questioned it. She'd ran upstairs and dashed into her closet, digging through her outfits until she'd found the perfect thing to wear.

She'd chosen a black top that strung across her chest, revealing her shoulders; it cropped short, revealing her toned stomach. She'd opted for a pair of skin-tight skinny jeans that accentuated her figure, particularly in her bottom. Then, she'd topped the look off with a pair of cute little ballerina flats. Overall, it was a sexy look that also came off as sort of cute.

The perfect outfit to get a boy's attention, which was exactly what she was setting out to do.

She skipped down her porch steps, meeting Natsu at the base of them. She gestured to herself. "Whaddya think?"

Natsu's dark eyes flickered to her—he'd been preoccupied, watching the dog across the street chase after a squirrel—and he frowned slightly, not understanding. After a second, he realized she was asking about her outfit, and he ran his eyes down her body for a quick second. The boy shrugged. "You look nice."

A compliment, sure, but a rather lacklustre one. He'd barely even glanced at her. Lucy's shoulders slumped, and she shook her head. Did he not even notice how different she was?

"Let's go," Lucy had grumbled, moving along down the pathway up to her house. "They're waiting for us."

The arcade wasn't far away—a short walk—and they made it there quickly. Natsu had chatted the entire time about how he'd never been able to save up enough arcade tickets to get the one prize he was really after: a cool water gun that had been behind the glass for at least a year. He told Lucy that he was determined to win it today, that he wasn't going home until he had that stupid gun in his arms.

Lucy had giggled, pretending to listen to whatever he was blabbering on about; in reality, she was scheming up more ways to attempt to get Natsu to notice her.

Maybe if she leaned over the skee ball machine just right, sticking her booty out, he'd notice. Or maybe if they played air hockey and she leaned over when he was looking, he'd catch a clear glimpse of her now ample cleavage. She had lots of tactics stored up into her head—minor ones—just to increase the chances of her catching his eye.

However, the second they walked into the arcade, Lucy knew those minor tactics wouldn't be necessary. Her big plan—getting attention from other fellows—seemed to come to her with ease.

The second they walked in, everyone looked at her. The place was packed with teenage boys and they seemed surprised that a female had even entered the premises; they lurched from their positions, tongues wagging at her.

Lucy blushed, flattered with the attention she was clearly receiving; boys whooped and hollered at her from the back, calling her cutie and sexy. She looked down shyly, playing it off, and glanced to the boy next to her, hoping to see a reaction out of him. Maybe he'd be angry that other boys were so callously calling out to her, or maybe he'd be a little jealous. Maybe he'd be protective. Maybe he'd be looking at her, finally realizing with wide eyes that she was a girl and attractive and cute.