Forgotten and Forgiveness

Chapter 3 - Dodge ball

I walk to my next class as happy as a button, but then it hits me. It's gym. 

I've never done that good with sports. You always have to change into shorts and a t-shirt or something more revealing. That's not good for me. I don't really want anyone to see my scratches and bruises because then they'll always have to ask what happened and that is something that I don't want people to find out. First of all, I don't show any sign of weakness. Second, I don't want anyone to treat me like a baby. I'm a full grown 17 year-old. 

I walk into the gym with my head held low, then go over to Mr. Elfman, our PE teacher. "I'm not feeling well." I say. I tell him this everyday, and he goes easy on me for some reason. "Well Ms. Heartfelia, you've missed half of the physical part of this class. So today, it would be best if you could do PE like a MAN!" He yells in my face. My heart starts to beat faster. What am I going to do?!!

I walk into the girl's locker room, dodging half-naked girls. They stare at me wondering why I am entering. I go to the back of my brain to remember my locker combination. 38-22-9. There. I look inside the dusty locker that holds the clothes that I hadn't seen for at least four months. I take them and shake them out. Then someone nudges me. Lisanna. "Oh, someone finally decided to get off their lazy fat butt and do something." She hisses. I totally forgot Lisanna and Natsu were in my gym class. 'The perfect couple.' as everyone says. 

When I'm done changing I tell myself that it's going to be okay, then walk slowly out to the big gym. Natsu and Lisanna huddle together. It's sickening for some weird reason. I've always been protective of him for some reason, so whenever something happens I have to hear about it. As I stare down at my bruised, scarred, and scratched legs. My eyes pick up something at the corner of my eye. I look up to my left and see Natsu Dragneel of all people staring at me. I stare back into his bottomless onyx eyes. It lasts for only a second, but then he looks back at Lisanna. 

That was weird. He hasn't tortured me almost all day, and any sort of stare that comes from him to me is a glare. I proceed to my spot on the bleachers to wait for Mr. Elfman to tell us what is going to happen today. "Ok men, we're going to play some dodge ball today." His voice echoes around the gym. I swear, in almost every sentence that comes out of his mouth is either men or man. It's kinda weird. It may just be a habit I guess. 

"I'm going to split you into 2 teams based on the people that I think you work well with. And as for you Lucy, I'll place you randomly." All heads turn to me when he says Lucy. Great, just great. 'Randomly' is like saying "You're going to fail." to me. As expected, I end up on the team opposite from Natsu and Lisanna's. "Ready, set, START MEN!!" Yells Mr. Elfman. Everyone starts throwing dodge balls at each other. I make my way to the back. 

I guess I start throwing balls after a while. Then I pick up a blue ball. Half of my team is out, and I've become outraged because the other team is cheating. I grip the ball in my hand, then toss it as hard as I can at the guy that I hate and love the most. I know it won't hit him, but just as soon as I throw it, I can't go back. The ball flies up into the air so high I might've made a school record. Then it travels back down about 70 mph right into Natsu's forehead, causing him to have an instant bloody nose, and he also falls back which means I probably knocked him out. 

OH. MY. GOD. I feel so bad! So the first thing I do is rush over to his side like an idiot and feel his forehead. Yep, as I suspected. He's out cold. Lisanna's on his other side. "What DID YOU DO?!!" She yells at me. "I um, I-" She cuts me off before I have time to explain. "GO AWAY YOU FILTHY BRAT. GO KILL YOURSELF." She yells at me. I was already handling the scratch problem, but that was the last string that was going to be pulled. I rush through the crowd of people that had recently gathered around us. 

I run out of the gym and through the halls. I round the corner and run into the bathroom. I lock myself in a stall and start bawling. Why?! Why does everything have to happen to me? I keep telling myself to be strong like my mother would tell me when she was alive. Maybe I should die. But then I push away that thought instantly. NO! I WILL BE STRONG! 

After I pull myself together I head back to the gym. Of course I'm in trouble. I get detention after school, and when I get home, I'm sure my father is going to beat me. But at least Natsu isn't hurt. That's about the only thing I could care about right now.