Chapter 1:

Ordinary Schoolgirl

At first glance, Juvia Lockser and the way she ran her life made her seem like your average popular schoolgirl who had it all. She was in the group of girls that all the boys wanted to have and all the girls wanted to be; She drove her very own, deep ocean blue, convertible Porsche. She had two perfect parents that were always kind, considerate, polite, and never fought. Her house was very large with several servants, an in ground pool, an accessible roof, and the perfect place to host a party. To put the icing on the cake, she was in the best friend group in the school. With angelic, top-model, matchmaking Mirajane; beautiful, all-feared, all-loved Erza; charming, amazingly intelligent, bookworm Levy; gorgeous, heavy drinking, player Cana; the lovely, caring, animal lover Lisanna; adorable, loved by all, innocent Wendy; and finally, curvy, graceful, blonde-beauty Lucy. How could Juvia's supposedly "perfect" life be any different from her friends'? Or better yet, girls like them from different schools?

Well, the answer is, a lot of ways. Juvia Lockser is far from normal, and her life is certainly not an easy one to live; For once you dig a bit deeper than the first glance, you find Juvia's dark, dark past. A past about to come back to haunt her. A past that Gray Fullbuster will help her leave behind for good. A past, that will lead her to love.

"Juvia! Breakfast is ready!" Juvia's mother, a pale-blue haired, dazzling woman yelled to her daughter from the dining room. "Juvia will be down in a minute!" the teen called whilst scrambling to put all her books and papers into her bag. She had just barely managed to put on her school outfit and do her morning routine in time. Most of the night before, stretching well into the morning, she had spent working on her never-ending pile of homework, leading to her sleeping in. Not that Juvia was complaining. In fact, she was probably the most optimistic person in the school, especially when it came to homework. While most kids complained about the piles of work they were given, Juvia would always think of the assignments as ways to prove her worth, putting her all into them and even asking for more, thanking the teachers for the opportunities. This left several teachers confused, especially when they were just starting to teach Juvia. But this also led to a strong fondness of the girl from her teachers.

Once everything was in its proper place, Juvia turned to the medium-sized doll sitting on her bed, like she always did before leaving her bedroom in the mornings. The cute, little thing was designed to look like her favorite person in the world, Gray Fullbuster, and it truly did. It looked so similar to the real thing that Juvia would often wake up and think that it really was Gray who had somehow gotten himself shrunk. But no matter how similar to Gray the doll may be, Juvia always said it couldn't even begin to compare to the boy's handsome features. Not many knew of the bluenette's obsession with him, but those who did found it disturbing to no end. The girl hadn't even seen him from afar in person or uttered a single word to him online and yet she would go rambling on about love rivals all the time! She was very possessive of him and all her friends knew if they complimented him once they would be called a love rival. They also knew that she was dangerous enough that crushing over him was a death sentence.

Juvia knelt beside the bed and took the doll up in her arms. She hugged it as if her life depended on it, lightly kissed it on its head, and with a cheerful "Goodbye, Gray-sama!" she set it back in its place on her bed. The girl meant to leave after she put the doll down, but she only managed to up and turn around; Once she had done that, she turned to look back at the doll that looked so much like Fullbuster and was sucked right into her daydreams.

Gray was running. Running as fast as he could. The paparazzi were hot on his tail when he knocked into Juvia, seeing the girl for the first time. He got up, then, being kind helped her do the same. He looked at her face and...and... Hearts formed in his eyes, falling in love at first sight. He knelt down on one knee; Holding both her hands, he exclaimed, "Beautiful stranger! I love you! Please marry-"

Her daydream was broken and Juvia snapped back to reality because of her mother's insistent voice, "Juvia! If you don't come down soon you'll have to skip breakfast to get to school on time!" "Yes, mother! Juvia is coming!" she yelled in response as she grabbed her bag made her way out of her room and downstairs to the dining room, cerulean waves bouncing as she did so.

"Good morning, Juvia. I was beginning to worry." Sylvia Lockser stated affectionately as her daughter entered the room.

"Juvia is sorry. She did not mean to take so long and worry her mother." Juvia replied apologetically while she took her seat in the stylish chair made of dark brown wood with royal blue fabric over the cushioning at the matching dark brown, wooden, circular family dining table.

The smell of freshly made waffles immediately overtook Juvia's nostrils, as a plate of the delicious food was placed in front of her, whilst her mother continued the conversation, "Don't be! My little girl is growing up, and I know you need to have some alone time, especially in the morning." The woman stated, raising her hands and giving the teen a knowing look.

As Juvia blushed and proceeded to begin eating her breakfast, a familiar ocean-blue haired man walked in and sat down with a simple "Good morning, ladies." and began on his own breakfast once the women had returned the gesture. The trio then simply began munching contently on their waffles, a comfortable silence taking over the room. After about ten minutes, as per usual, Juvia was the first one to finish her meal. She informed a nearby servant of the fact, stood up from her chair, said her goodbyes and have-a-good-days to her parents, and left the dining room, going in the direction of the garage. Making sure she had her keys, Juvia opened the garage door and got in her car. As she exited the garage and began her drive to school, her collection of High School Musical songs automatically come on, making her relax, unaware of the conversation taking place in her family's dining room.

"I'm just hoping she gets a boyfriend sometime this year."

"Why? That'd be one more person we'd have to run checks on, not to mention his friends. I don't know about you, Sylvia, but I don't like having to suspect every one of her friends of being a spy. And I especially don't like the amount of work having to go into those checks on innocent kids."

"Fine, fine. I would be the one to run the checks on them. I'm just saying, she should probably go ahead and experience love and heartbreak before you-know-what happens."

"Mmm..." he nodded in realization of what the woman's point was and agreement with it before returning to his food, attempting to eat quickly as to not be late for work. Though the incident had occurred over 3 years before, the couple knew they were still under the suspicious watch of the FBI.

Just as Juvia began pulling up to the streetlight where the turnoff to her school was,"When There Was Me and You" began playing from her radio system. This was actually a lot more uncomfortable for Juvia than it would be for most girls for two reasons. The first, was that it was one of her friends singing the song, making it fairly strange to listen to. The second, was what songs she knew came after. After all, she set it up, she should know.

The radio system Juvia had was no ordinary radio system. She had found a program to put in it that made sure that certain songs were played at certain times, using the program to help encourage herself to leave for school on time. The way she did this, was setting the system to play her favorite songs-because of a certain artist-at the ideal time of departure and gradually switch to songs that she strongly disliked. This way, the closer she gets to leaving at the right time, the better her driving experience, and the less she has to listen to the songs coming up next-songs sung by Sharpay. Juvia didn't really have anything against the antagonist, per say, but the girl who played her, Jenny Realight, she hated the guts of. She would sometimes even get road rage when listening to her songs-High School Musical or otherwise. So it was understandable why Juvia would get uncomfortable when the song "When There Was Me and You" came on.

The girl pulled onto her school's property, parked, and turned off her car as fast as she could. Once that deed was done, she gathered her bookbag, purse, and any other belongings she may need for the day, and went inside. Immediately upon entry, Juvia could spot her closest friend and beloved love rival, Lucy, as well as the other two bluenette's of her friend group, Levy and Wendy, one on each side of the blonde. Juvia could tell through the crowd surrounding them that the latter two of the trio were there to assist Lucy, as it was Wednesday, the day the school's weekly newspaper was published, and the table where it was sold was unusually overcrowded. She decided to offer her help as well, as she knew how the stress of it all, especially with as big a crowd as this, could easily fatigue and frustrate Lucy, not to mention the other two, who weren't used to handling it all.

"Good morning, Levy-san. Is there anything Juvia can do to help?"

The petite girl turned to her friend, instantly understanding what she meant. "Um, yeah. If you go by your locker and come right back, we'll find something for you to do. Okay?"

Juvia nodded and did as she was told, returning to the table a few moments later. "Alright, if you could please bring that-" Levy began, pointing to an as-full-as-humanly-possible cash box, "-back to Erza in the SC room, that would be great."

Juvia once again nodded and went straight to work. Though the box was still heavy and strainful on her arms, Juvia was thankful she still retained some of her previous muscle to help with her current lifestyle, especially since she was an athlete, giving her a head-start on other members of the team. Just as she was about to go carry out her job, Lucy, not having realized Juvia's presence due to being occupied with customers, but now aware of her being there, and all out of newspapers to sell, stood up and spoke.

"Oh, Juvia!" she called. Realizing what Juvia was about to do, by the box in her hands, she continued speaking with another job lined up for her to do afterwards, "When you're finished with that, go to the printing room before you come back. I'm headed there right now, but Jet is taking too long with all the tables to deliver to, and we're running out of copies with a huge crowd still here."

For the final time, Juvia nodded and, at last, ran off towards the Student Council Room, where Erza was sure to be awaiting patiently for news of progress in sales.

Both Erza and Mirajane were on the Student Council, along with their boyfriends, Laxus and Jellal, respectively, and Gildarts, a very popular teacher that only got on because pretty much everyone in the school wanted him there. Gildarts, being a teacher, was allowed on, on the condition that he couldn't become president or vice president. Everyone-including Gildarts himself-approved of the very reasonable condition, and Gildarts landed the position of the Sports and Club Manager, a job that suits his competitive and social personality well. Mirajane has the role of Miss Fairy Tail, a title meaning that she is a role-model for the community, as well as that it is her job to find out what the school body wants, and make sure they get it, something that her friendly, social-butterfly personality comes in handy for often. Erza is the Financial Manager, meaning that she gives much needed help in keeping track of the school's finances, figuring out ways to keep the school's finances stable, seeing how much money is being earned or lost in different clubs-hence her being the one to collect the newspaper's earnings-to calculate which ones can be kept, and also calculate what would need to be done to afford the student body's wants and needs. Lastly, Jellal is the President, while Laxus is the Vice President. Jellal does a little bit of everyone's jobs, plus being the leader of the school, and Laxus also helps everyone out with their jobs while being the support of Jellal too. Some ignorant souls would look at the setup for the Student Council and claim it was prejudiced against women because it was made up mostly of males and neither of the two females that were on it were one of the presidents. However, the vast majority of the school were aware that though these two points were true, it was also true that not only were the women in the position they were most qualified for, either of them could control Gildarts and one of the presidents with ease, not to mention working together.

So here Juvia is, at the door of the SC room, a room made specially for the Student Council. She lifts her hands up and knocks on the door whilst still straining her arms to hold the heavy box. Right after knocking, she heard a deep, female voice answer, "Come in!"

"Juvia cannot. She needs help opening the door."

She waited as she heard someone get up, and walk to the door. After a few seconds, the door opened, and a beautiful girl with scarlet hair down to her coccyx that Juvia recognized as her friend Erza came into view. Seeing what was in her arms, Erza understood why Juvia was here, and why she couldn't get the door. "Ah, the newspaper profits."

Erza easily and swiftly took the immensely heavy box off Juvia's now sore arms using one hand. She led Juvia into the room, placing the box on the table in the middle of the room to begin sorting the money into an arrangement of tubs used only to hold the money from newspaper sales. "How is everything going? Lucy's table, I presume?" the redhead asked, looking at Juvia.

Juvia nodded for the fourth time that morning, and proceeded to describe the happenings at Lucy's table. "Business is going well. That box is obviously their primary, and their secondary seemed to be filling quickly, if not already full. They've been selling so many newspapers that Lucy-san had to go get more. Lucy-san told Juvia to stop by the printing room as well, before she returned. There was also still a large crowd when Juvia and Lucy-san left."

By the time Juvia finished speaking, Erza had finished organizing the money into the tubs. Now having closed the cash box, she spoke. "Excellent." she said, turning back to Juvia and handing her the almost empty box back. "I left some of the money in there for them to use as change; When you're finished giving them more copies and returning this, bring me the secondary, that way it isn't overflowing."

"Yes, ma'am." Juvia replied, taking the box, and once again, speeding off to do her chore. About half-way there, however, Juvia came across Lyon Vastia, her closest male friend, who decided to follow her.

"Good morning, Juvia-chan!"

"Good morning, Lyon-sama!"

"Where you headed?"

"Juvia is on her way to the printing room to print more copies of the newspaper for Lucy-san. Afterwards she's going to give them to Lucy-san and return this cash box."

"Well, I can print the copies for you. That way you don't have to waste your time with it, and I'm headed by Lucy's table anyways." he offered, effectively stopping both of them in their tracks to look at each other.

Lyon-sama is too sweet. Juvia thought. "Well, Juvia wouldn't want to take up too much of Lyon-sama's time. Would Lyon-sama know how to work the printer, anyways?"

Lyon opened his mouth to protest, then closed it before mumbling "Good point.", looking down with a mixture of shame and sadness.

Not wishing to leave Lyon's feelings hurt, Juvia suggested, "Well, how about Juvia continues onto the printing room while Lyon-sama brings back the cash box?"

Lyon's head shot up with a face full of excitement and joy that he could help her. "Yes, Juvia-chan!" he exclaimed with hearts for eyes as he outstretched his arms for the cash box.

Juvia handed it over to him with two more things to say."Alright, when Lyon-sama gets to the table, he needs to give them the box, tell them Juvia sent him, and then tell them that Erza-san said to send her the secondary box." Lyon nodded. "And, also, Lyon-sama, both Juvia and Lyon-sama need to hurry, they have a large crowd over there."

Lyon once again nodded, and they both took off running in opposite directions.

"Whew. It's finally over." Levy sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. The hoards of people trying to buy a school newspaper from Lucy's table were finally gone. After taking care of the cash boxes the first time and then taking a message from Ultear in her room, which was, in reality, nowhere near Lucy's table, Lyon decided to continue helping the girls, as to make sure Juvia didn't become too tired. Lucy, Levy, and Wendy remained at the table, whilst Lyon and Juvia made sure there were enough copies, the cash boxes weren't overflowing, and the girls at the table weren't being overwhelmed with customers. And now, everyone who wanted one, had a newspaper; And everyone on the five-person crew for Lucy's table were finally completely finished with the task.

"Thank you guys, so much!" Lucy said very appreciatively as the group gathered their stuff after putting everything away.

"No biggie, Lu-chan. You've helped me out countless times before. I'm just returnin' the favor."

"Same here, Lucy-san. And besides," Wendy piped up with a smile, "the rush and excitement of it all turned out to be pretty fun."

"Juvia agrees with Levy-san and Wendy-san. She would do almost anything to help out a friend."

"I would do anything for Juvia-chan!"

Ignoring Lyon's comment while looking very thankfully at her friends, Lucy explained to them, "Aw, but guys! It's just that y'all look so tired, and imagine how I would look if I did it on my own. I can't help but feel indebted!"

"Don't be! Think of it as getting even." Levy said cheerfully.

After a few seconds of standing silently, waiting for Lucy's response as she looked at the floor in thought, the blonde finally broke the silence as she abruptly exclaimed, "Oh! I just had an idea!"

"Lucy-san, you really don't need to-" Wendy began.

"Look, if not as payback, the think of it as a treat, on me. I'm not sure about Lyon, but I know the rest of us would enjoy it, if you'll only hear me out."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Levy sighed and said, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt just to hear it."

Lucy's eyes sparkled in excitement as she began to explain. "Okay, so everyone knows about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and how it's coming to theaters next Friday, right?"

Once everyone nodded, slightly confused, and Lyon, almost annoyed, she continued, "Well, two months ago, my dad made a deal with the owner of the theater-restaurant Blue Pegasus, and reserved me the whole front, central table, able to hold 7 people, on the debut night for the movie. I was thinking there could be the five of us, plus Erza and Jellal-"

"Yes!" Levy half-screamed, half squealed, jumping in excitement. A newfound twinkle was visible in her eyes with a wide smile plastered on her face, the same for Wendy and especially Juvia.

"Eh, I'll go if Juvia-chan does." Lyon stated hesitantly.

Juvia squealed excitedly, "Juvia will most certainly be going!"

Wendy, the final one to give her answer, replied, "I will also go, Lucy-san."

"Great!" the blonde yelled in delight. Suddenly turning to a serious expression, she then said,"Now we gotta get to class!"

Everyone muttered, "Oh, right!" and scattered off to their individual classes.

But just before she could run off to her class, Lucy grabbed Juvia's arm, pulling her close to quickly whisper in her ear, "But try not to make Lyon jealous of a certain lead actor." And then let go as both sprinted in different directions, one with a face full of blush, the other with one of smugness.

So there you have my 3430 word first chapter that takes up 9 pages as a pdf. BTW, this fanfic is available on Wattpad as well. I can't really think of anything else to say, really... Bye! :)

- RR, November 8, 2016