One Of The Boys

Sold

The principal began the auction fairly quickly. They started out with the younger girls, working up throughout the grades so that the oldest girls—the girls most likely to have the most money bid on them—would go last.

All of the kids in the audience were chatting away as the auction went on, whispering about whatever girl was up there, being pawned off to some fellows in the crowd. At this point, the younger girls weren't going for much—bets started at twenty bucks, and the highest a younger girl was sold for was about fifty. It made sense, though—the younger kids didn't have jobs, so they didn't have much money to bid.

Still, the girls on stage beamed with flattery when a boy—or even a girl—bet on them. One younger girl, Wendy, sold for a whopping sixty five dollars to her best friend, Sherria. The girls ran to each other and hugged, giggling.

"That's bound to be the cutest dinner date of all time!" The principal had cooed afterwards, once the girls had left the stage.

As the girls being sold got older, the bets began to rise; several girls were now hitting the hundred dollar mark for their final bids. The boys in the crowd were getting louder, excitedly waving their hands in the air to signal a bid; the principal was having a ball, throwing funny comments and jokes out about the desperate boys.

Everyone was having a great time—except Natsu.

He was way too fucking nervous. His head was spinning and he felt so fucking dizzy and he didn't know what to do. The second Lucy walked out there, he knew he'd freeze. Because she was so pretty and he was so stupid. Would she even want him to bid? Would she even want to go out to dinner with him?

The second he put his hand up and bid on her, she'd know. It would be a tell-all. It would give away everything. He'd basically be telling her that he loved her, that he wanted her, that he didn't want her to be on a date with anyone else. And maybe it would ruin everything, maybe she didn't think of him in that way and their intimate friendship would come to a harsh end. Or maybe it would be perfect. Maybe they'd have dinner and hit it off and he'd kiss her on the dancefloor at the dance.

Either way, he was too far gone, now. He couldn't keep hiding his feelings, couldn't keep being afraid of what he felt. It was time to tell her, regardless of the outcome. He couldn't live with himself if he never tried.

So he clutched his money, held it tight to his sweaty palms, and watched the stage anxiously.

Dozens of girls got sold—some to people they were clearly excited to go on a date with, others not so much—and Natsu watched in anticipation, the urge to vomit increasing with every female that left the stage.

Until, all of a sudden, the principal had a great big grin on his face and he was announcing her name.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next beautiful lady up for bidding is the whole package. Blonde, beautiful, and not to mention one of the smartest kids in the school. Everyone, please welcome Lucy Heartfilia to the stage!"

The crowd absolutely erupted. Everyone knew who she was—all the boys wanted her, all the girls wanted to be her. The second she hit the stage, the hoots and hollers from the crowd only grew louder, which was hard to believe. People were chanting her name and girls were shouting out compliments at her and the boys were screaming out, telling her that they were gonna win the date with her.

Lucy blushed as she made her way over to the principal, eyes dropping to the stage. She had a nervous smile on her face—clearly, she felt uncomfortable with this much attention on her—and her cheeks were a bright pink. When she finally made it to her mark on stage, she turned, facing the audience; the hollers increased even more.