The Rules and Regulations of Love (Nalu Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

Lucy

Rule Number Seven: Keep Your Cool

Oh. My. God. Oh my God!! I was talking to Gray Fullbuster. I was practically jumping out of my skin with excitement, but I was following Natsu's advice and staying calm and confident. And it was working! I was even being semi-ladylike and girly! I was giggling every once in a while-involuntarily, but if it worked, I was all for it-and hitting him lightly on the arm, like I'd seen other girls do when they were flirting with a guy. I had no idea if these things would work, but they always seemed to land the guy for the other girls, so it was worth a shot.

"So do you have a wrestling match any time soon?" I asked, forcing myself to ask this suggestively, injecting a self-invitation into the question.

"Yeah, we have one tomorrow. You wanna come?" He asked, giving me a playful grin that revealed his white teeth. I thought his smile was adorable because his front tooth had a tiny chip in it from when he fell ice skating when we were six and everyone still hung out together. I also loved his smile because it lit up his whole face, and his eyes sparkled with happiness.

"Oh, sure!" I practically squealed, forcing myself to keep from jumping up and down. I remembered Natsu telling me that I had to remain confident though, so I calmed down and forced myself to keep my cool, even though on the inside I was about ready to burst.

"I have a private practice session tonight at the gym with my partner. Do you wanna come watch?" He offered, causing me to practically faint. He was inviting me somewhere! Without me having to basically tell him I wanted to come! Ahhhhh!!!!!

"Oh, um, actually, I was, uh, planning on spending time with my friends tonight, yeah, and so I'm not sure if I'll be able to," I said, stuttering and fishing for an excuse to make it look like I wasn't completely available. Natsu would be proud!

"You can bring them along; it's no problem."

"Oh! Okay then, what time should we show up?"

"Seven thirty should be good. Just let yourself in through the front door; it'll be unlocked, okay?" He gave me another boyish grin before we exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes. He left to catch up with some of his wrestling friends, while I just stood there, dazed. Then I squealed in excitement and ran to Natsu, who was still standing where I'd left him a few minutes ago. He was watching me in confusion and shock, but then he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and a smile bloomed on his face.

Throwing my arms around him, I hugged him tightly, thanking him over and over and over again. He was surprised by my actions, but he patted me on the back before hugging me too, laughing at my reaction.

"You gotta keep your cool, man!" He said with a laugh as he pulled away from me. I just smiled and danced around, doing my signature football dance, which consisted of me rotating my hips in a circle like when SpongeBob 'brought it around town', getting 'low' and then doing the cancan. Nerdy, I know. I loved it though, and Natsu was cracking up. "Lucy, never do that in public again. So what'd he say to you?" Natsu asked, calming me down before we began walking again. He had his hands in his pockets, smiling as he turned his head to look at me, while my hands were clasped behind my back as I took big strides forward, trying to get rid of all of the excitement built up inside me.

"Well, I basically forced him to invite me to his matches tomorrow, but he invited me and my friends to his private practice session tonight. So I'm gonna call up Levy, Gajeel and Juvia and beat them with a high heel until they say they'll come."

"Do you even own a pair of high heels?" Natsu asked skeptically, doing the whole one-raised eyebrow thing I was so jealous of.

"Well, I'll use one of my mom's," I improvised as Natsu laughed yet again.