We Are Young: Sidestories

The cheers rang in his ears as he panted, barely standing, hands on his knees just past the finish line. There were hands — squeezing his shoulders, patting his arms and back. ‘Congratulations!’, ‘Great run!’ came from the voices around him — some familiar, some just barely. ‘FAIRYGAKU!’ came from a chorus of girls’ voices from a distance.

It took a while for him to regain his focus, and as soon as everything became clear again, he recognized a familiar voice call out his name.

“Jet! JET!”

He turned in time to see the familiar blonde in blue-and-white cheerleading uniform running towards him, accompanied by the other cheerleaders, all smiling wide excited smiles and waving pom-poms at the team.

Jet caught Lucy when she glomped at him, arms thrown around his neck. He laughed, finally — and he hugged her back as they spun around with wobbly feet.

“That was amazing!” Lucy said breathlessly as she drew back and squeezed his shoulders. Her pom-poms were in his face, but he didn’t care as he laughed some more. “You beat them all by a mile, Jet!”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Naw, I didn’t!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You did!” she said, this time shaking him as his coach and other teammates crowded around him and also congratulated him. “Oh my gosh, we have to tell Natsu. He’ll freak out. And Levy-chan! Oh, and Droy! Lemme grab my phone!”

He didn’t know how she did it, but she indeed managed to slip out from the crowd to look for her bag. Before she could come back, he had been called to the stage to receive his award. A medal. Gold. First place. By the time the photos and seemingly endless handshaking were done, Lucy was waving at him, telling him to come over. He jogged towards her and was welcomed by more familiar voices almost drowning out the static of her phone as she turned the screen towards him.

“Jet! I’m so happy for you!”

“Awesome job, man! I wish I coulda been there! Why’d I have to get sick today of all days?!”

“C’mon, let’s see that medal!”

Jet couldn’t help but grin at the video call, seeing Levy’s encouraging face, Natsu excited despite being bundled up in blankets with a cold, and Droy smiling as he munched on a bag of potato chips. Cana, Gray and Erza were there too, albeit more subdued than the other three, just hovering at the back with amused expressions. He exchanged a look with Lucy, who was holding out the phone in front of both of them, and she nodded.

So he lifted the gold medal up for his three friends to see, and he and Lucy burst laughing at the racket that came after — Natsu jumping up in celebration, Levy’s high-pitched squeal as she came sliding off the bed when Natsu’s celebration took the blankets and sheets with him, Droy throwing potato chips up in the air like confetti, and the subsequent scolding from Erza while Gray helped Levy up and Cana ate all the potato chips she could catch.