words i didn't say / nalu

one

-- natsu dragneel, age 17 --

moving in day at boarding school is the absolute worst.

first of all, you only get a day or so to get everything ready. it's a pain in the ass, and on countless occasions i've had to go down multiple flights of stairs and then walk over to the main reception building just to get what i needed, then go back up to my dorm.

i've done that around four times now, and my legs feel like they're going to break.

thank god i didn't pack much. i don't own a lot of things, but most of my suitcase was just clothes. the others were daily essentials and old photos.

a framed photo of me and lisanna sits on the desk the school provided every bedroom with. she gave it to me a few years ago on my birthday. she was sick at the time, and couldn't do much, but it was still like a million dollars to me.

i sit on the spinning chair, sinking into it slightly as i just stare blankly at the photo. sometimes i find myself so lost in thought, staring at that photo, that the world around me silences itself.

i can only hear one voice.

"natsu," lisanna snaps me out of my trance. "you call this decorating? it's so messy."

"shut up, i tried my best."

"lame excuse, dragneel. see, this photo here is wonky!" she points at one of the pictures on the wall.

groaning, i get out of the chair and go over to the wall beside my bed where the pictures are hung. i straighten the one she's pointing at and look back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"good enough for you now?"

"somewhat." she shrugs.

i roll my eyes, smiling as i lie on the bed beside her. just as i begin to relax, there's a knock on my door.

"haha." lisanna laughs mockingly.

pouting, i get up. "shush, you."

sting comes into view when i open the door. he's one of my three roommates, the other two being gajeel redfox and none other than gray fullbuster. me and gray ended up going to the same boarding school for middle and high school, like some other kids from our elementary. the sole reason for that was because all the public schools were so run-down and shitty here in fiore that private ones like these were the only way to get a decent education.

i don't know if it's a coincidence or what, but we've roomed together every year since sixth grade. we sort of learned to deal with eachother, and it turns out he's not so bad. he was just an overconfident dickhead back then.

even so, it's a miracle we have two other roommates, otherwise i'd probably go insane.

"who the hell were you talking to?" sting gives me a suspicious look.

"oh, i was just on the phone-" i look over at my empty bed. "with my uncle, igneel."

i've been staying with igneel ever since my dad got arrested when i was eight. it was thanks to lisanna and her mom that i was free from the hands of that bastard.

"fair enough. anyway, gray needs us to help move some of his stuff."

"ugh. why can't he just bring a normal suitcase or two like everyone else?"

sting shrugged. "because he's gray? i dunno, just come downstairs or he'll beat the living shit out of you."

i groan and follow him out the room, down the corridor and the few flights of stairs. there's a parking lot inbetween the seniors and juniors dorm buildings, and that's where we find gray.