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‑ˏˋ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 ˊˎ‑
𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 a few days since the interview at the café, and if I was going to be honest with myself, I thought the entire thing had run smoothly. However, I kept my hopes on the low end of the scale. That way I wouldn't be too disappointed if my application was denied.
My nightmares had only gotten worse, and it was beginning to show in my appearance. I had dark circles under my eyes, and my skin looked paler than it usually was. I had tried to fix that by staying out in the sun ― going for walks in the park and such. It never exactly worked out since the clouds were always blocking out the sky.
Besides that, I had finally reunited with a majority of my friends, and my appearance was currently the topic of conversation as we sat in the Fairy Tail Café. I only meant to drop by and see if the manager had made a decision when I was recognized by an entire table. Gray, Erza, Juvia, Romeo, Gajeel, Levy, and Wendy all sat at the table in the corner, each of them with a drink in hand.
Now I was sitting with them, perched on the arm of the couch that rested against the wall. I quietly drank the coffee Erza had purchased for me, not really wanting to talk at the moment.
"It's like he's a walking ghost," Gray was saying, his arm lazily draped over Juvia's shoulders. He would never admit it, but Gray really cared for the blunette, no matter how many times he would deny it. He turned to me, poking my arm. "Just look at him."
I cleared my throat. "You shouldn't talk about yourself like that, Gray."
A couple of snickers sounded from the others, making a small smile crawl onto my face. Romeo lightly punched me in the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. He was always around me when we were in the same room, but I never minded it. He was a good person, always willing to help out or to offer a shoulder to cry on ― he was a great kid, no doubt about that.
"That was a good one, Natsu," he said. I just nodded, noticing the smile on Lucy's face as she walked by. Gajeel snickered quietly, hunched over on the carpet floor with a bagel nearly falling from his hand.
I took another drink from my to-go cup, wishing I could fully indulge myself in talking with my friends. The only thing keeping me from doing so is the lingering wonder about that damn interview. I needed to get a job ― and soon. I'm going on three weeks of being without a paying job. I keep having this strong feeling that Jellal was getting tired of the bills for the apartment, even though he keeps saying it's fine.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when a hand rested on my shoulder. Erza had come up to me, trying to say something, but it was going in one ear and out the other. I blinked at her, my throat going dry ― not hearing what Erza had said was considered a death wish. "What?"
I could tell by her twitching eye that I had irritated her. She tried hiding it but was failing by the second. "I was asking you if you had found a place to live yet. Have you?"
"Oh," the thin layer of sweat covering my forehead slowly began to cool. "Yeah, I'm roommates with someone over at that new apartment complex."
Levy ― who had buried her nose in a thick book ― gasped at this information, looking up at me through her red reading glasses. She was the worry-wart of the group, my guess being that she read too many books to make her that way. She means well, of course, but sometimes it was too much. I actually agreed with her disbelief ― I still wasn't comfortable with the situation.
I just shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't have much of a choice, Levy. I'm a little broke right now."
She shut her book violently, enough to make Gajeel jump slightly, his face silently telling me to run. Taking off her glasses, she pointed them at me in a stern way. "If you want to crash and burn because your roommate tries to choke you to death in your sleep, then that's your choice, but don't say I didn't warn you."
Everyone just stared at her ― even Lucy had stopped from across the café to stare at her with wide eyes. I could have sworn I saw Gajeel slide away from his spot next to her, the line of his throat moving nervously. Beside me, Romeo audibly gulped, sharing an uneasy glance with Wendy. Gajeel was the one to break the tense silence by laughing awkwardly. "You've got a dark side, don't you, shorty?"
"It always happens in horror novels," she slapped his chest angrily, adding, "and I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"
He huffed. "Whatever, shorty."
"Gajeel!"
With that unnerving image in my head, I heard footsteps shuffling towards our small group. I looked up to see the small man in charge of this very café. I immediately stood up, staring down at Makarov. I almost wanted to sit down so there wasn't much of a difference in height ― it seemed almost disrespectful to look down at the little man.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but I need to speak with you about your application, Natsu," the way the old man spoke was filled with authority that really made me want to sit back down. I swallowed the saliva in my mouth, barely nodding. Makarov rubbed the back of his neck, and that made me feel so much better about all the doubt I've been having.
"After reading your application many times over," Makarov sighed heavily, looking up at me with regretful eyes, "I'm sorry to say that you don't exactly qualify to work at this café."
I honestly wanted to scream in frustration but settled on an uneasy smile. I tried so hard to ignore everyone's stares of sympathy ― each and every one of them knew just how much I needed this job. "That's fine, Mr. Makarov," I lied, every word tasting like vinegar.
