Chapter 1

Authors Note (Please read!): Before this story starts (sorry but this is a bit of a spoiler) I want to say that I have nothing against Lissana, and I think she's a very sweet and kind girl (just as long as she stays away from Natsu, as I hate the paring Nali. Sorry Nali fans, but its Nalu all the way for me!) but I needed a bitchy character in this who's the sort of love rival and she was the only one I could think of that suited the best. So sorry!

17 year old Lucy Heartfilia stared at the girl in the long mirror in front of her. It was a sight she was not accustomed to seeing. The girl's blonde hair was in a messy bun, one that many would consider rather ugly. Her pale face was make-up free (but that wasn't unusual. She was fortunate enough to have very clear skin, so she rarely wore make-up anyway). She was dressed in the standard Fairy Tail Academy uniform – buttoned navy blazer with red lined lapels, pocket on the left with the Fairy Tail insignia, white blouse with a red tie, light grey skirt, thin dark blue socks that came to just below the knee and shiny black flats (cover pic).

There were a few abnormalities though. Both her blazer and blouse were a few sizes too big, their bagginess making her look fat as well as hiding her generous chest, if she did say so herself . Her skirt was longer than it would normally be, covering the top of her legs ending just barely above her knees. And last but not least, this girl had a pair of thin red glasses perched on her nose (the same as the gale-force reading glasses, only without the wing parts)

Lucy didn't actually need the glasses (their lenses were normal glass), her eye sight was perfectly fine. She was perfectly capable of making her hair look a lot more stylish, and she had a perfect figure, one that caused most girls to loathe her for it. In her previous school she was even nicknamed 'the blonde bombshell'. So why hide it all behind a nerdy disguise? You'll find out soon enough.

Lucy turned and took a last glance around her new apartment. The spacious pink room of 23 Strawberry Street was cosy and comfortable. She was lucky to have snagged such a great place for only 70,000 jewels rent! Her landlord (it's not the old lady in this, you'll find out who it is later) was super nice, and even gave her a discount on her rent until she got settled in and got a job.

Lucy grabbed her old black satchel that was filled with her new school supplies, and with another quick in the mirror she headed out the door. She shut the door softly and locked her new apartment. Her keys jangled merrily as she slipped them inside her satchel and hurried down the stairs and out onto the street, walking swiftly in the direction of her new school.

15 minutes later, she stood at the front steps of the prestigious Fairy Tail Academy. The large white stone building stretched high above her, the name emblazoned near the top in large black metal letters, with the famous Fairy Tail insignia placed below. It was the first time she'd ever she the place up close. Once she decided to move to Magnolia, she chose Fairy Tail because it was the most famous school in all Fiore and was said to accept only the best. It seemed like a place where everyone was welcome.

Lucy took a deep breath and skipped up the front steps. She opened the glittering glass doors and stepped into the foyer. The white tiles beneath her feet gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through the many windows lining the foyer. She made her way quietly through the corridors, keeping her head down and trying to stay inconspicuous. It was a success, as the many chattering students that gathered by the shining metal lockers on either side barely spared her a glance.

Lucy turned a corner to find the principal's office right in front of her. She gulped nervously, stepped forward and timidly knocked the wooden door twice. She played anxiously with her hands and waited. The door swung open just as the bell went off in the distance. Lucy looked down to find a short old man standing in front of her. "Good morning miss. I'm Makarov, Fairy Tail Academy's principal. You must be Lucy Heartfilia". "Yes sir" she replied. He opened the door and gestured for her to walk in.

•••

Lucy left Makarov's office after he explained what to expect from Fairy Tail Academy, the rules etc. She found a pretty girl with white hair and blue eyes in a pink dress waiting for her outside. "Lucy Heartfilia?" she asked. Lucy nodded. The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Mirajane, Makarov's secretary. You can call me Mira" she said cheerily. She extended a piece of paper. "Here's your timetable. You're in all your classes with a girl called Levy McGarden, so I'll ask her to help you if you're stuck with anything". "Thank you" Lucy said with a smile. Mira smiled back. "And now it's time for your tour! Follow me!"

The tour took a whole class, because the school was so large. At the end, Mira stopped beside a classroom and turned to Lucy. "This is your next class" she said. "Before you go inside, I wanted to ask, how are you settling into Magnolia?" "I'm starting to fall in love with it already!" Lucy laughed. "I've got a lovely apartment, so now all I need is a job". "Oh? A job?" Mira said. "Well if you're interested, I own a café called Mira's Café, and one of our part-time waitresses left not that long ago. Her position is open if you'd like it. I can put you on evening shifts after school hours".

"Mira that would be wonderful!" Lucy grinned, clasping her hands. "Well then, looks like you've got a job! Stop by at around 6 O'clock tonight, I'll get you settled in. Levy knows where it is, and I'll be hanging around Makarov's office if you can't find her". "Thank you so much" Lucy said. Mira waved a hand and grinned. "Don't mention it. Here, give this to the teacher when you go in. Good luck Lucy!" Mira handed her a piece of paper and waved as she walked back down the corridor. Lucy waved cheerfully back, before turning, knocking quickly and gently pushing the door open.

All eyes turned to her. She swallowed her nervousness and shut the door behind her. Whispers were already swirling through the classroom. As was expected, there was more than one hiss of "Who's the nerd?" and "look at the geek!" Lucy wasn't surprised by this. The majority of the insults were coming from a particular group of girls. One glance told Lucy all she needed to know. Beautiful, wearing expensive jewellery, fashionable and stylish, constantly texting (she could see that mobile under the table). No doubt the popular girls.

This group was made up of four girls. There was one with very light blonde hair, one with dark raven hair, one with dark brown hair and one with white. The one with the white hair looked like the leader. She was sniggering at something one of the others whispered in her ear. Probably about how ugly Lucy is. So we have the popular girls, that means…Yup, there they were. Right to the left were no doubt the popular boys, the athletes, the playboys, the charmers.

This group also consisted of four people. The first had blue hair and a strange red tattoo down the right side of his face. He seemed quiet, and was sitting back observing the rest of the class. Next was a large guy with bushy black hair and a lot of piercings. He looked grumpy, and was sitting with a blank look in his red eyes staring at the wall. Next came a boy with navy hair, who…WASN'T WEARING A SHIRT! Lucy fought the blush that threatened to surface on her cheeks (having never had a boyfriend she wasn't used to this kind of thing). He didn't even seem to notice (although several girls in the class seemed to have picked up the eye candy on display. One particular blue haired girl looked like she was going to faint)

He was hissing something at the final member of the group. They looked like they were having an argument. Lucy shifted her gaze to said final member, and despite herself her breath caught in her throat. He had unusual spiky pink hair, and dark onyx eyes. His blazer hung open, and the thin white shirt did little to hide the deliciously built torso underneath. Lucy swallowed painfully. He looked bored, his eyes drifting slowly over the classroom as the navy haired boy angrily whispered away. His eyes flicked up to meet hers.

Lucy froze, her heart jumping slightly. It felt like electricity crackled between them. His eyes held her locked in a trance as time ticked by unnoticed to either of them. She watched as his eyes widened ever so slightly, and one eyebrow dipped. A small smile graced his lips as he watched her standing there. A soft noise sounded beside her, and she dragged her eyes away from his mysterious stare to look at the teacher. He had dark blue hair and a small blue moustache clinging to his upper lip. Realizing she must have been standing there for a while, Lucy flushed and lowered her head in embarrassment.

She softly stepped forward and handed the teacher the piece of paper Mira gave her. The teacher lowered her gaze and quickly scanned the curvy writing. "Class we have a new student" she said. "This is Lucy Heartfilia". Lucy offered a small smile to the class. "I'm Mr Conbolt. Could Levy please raise her hand?" A small hand went up near the back. Lucy saw it belonged to a small petite girl with wavy light blue hair. "You can sit beside Miss McGarden from now on" he said. Lucy nodded and quietly made her way over to Levy.

Levy grinned and extended her hand after Lucy sat down beside her. "I'm Levy. It's nice to meet you" she whispered. Lucy took her hand. "Lucy. It's nice to meet you too". They shared a grin before turning as Mr Conbolt continued with the class.

•••

By the time lunchtime arrived Lucy and Levy were quickly becoming fast friends, after discovered their shared love for reading. "Ever read Midnight Breeze by Amber Woods?" (Btw I'm making these names up, they are not actual books. If they do happen to be actual books or real authors it is completely coincidental and I am a psychic) "Oh yes! Loved it!" Lucy trilled enthusiastically. "I know right!" Levy squealed. Lucy giggled as she shoved her books into her locker and grabbed her packed lunch. Levy was an incredibly enjoyable person.

High pitched squeals swarmed the air like sirens. Lucy and Levy both looked up to see what the fuss was about. They soon found out why. The popular boys from her class were casually strutting down the corridor as girls' promptly swooned left right in centre. Lucy's upper lip curled slightly in annoyance. I mean come on, they aren't that hot! (Well…she come make an argument about pinky but still!) Speaking of which, he was at the head of the four boys, not paying much attention to the fangirls.

His eyes met hers again. Again, it felt like electricity crackled in the air around her. She pulled away from his intense gaze to suddenly become very interested in her locker. Just as she did, the popular girls made their appearance. The four of them pranced up to the four boys, and the white haired leader wasted no time in flinging her arms around pinky's neck. Lucy felt a slight pang at that but dismissed it quickly. She'd only know the guy for an hour or so.

Natsu Dragneel stopped himself from growling out loud in anger once the infamous Lissana Strauss once again made a show of fawning over him. The constant twittering and swooning of fangirls was annoying enough without throwing Lissana into the mix. Being popular had its downsides as well as perks. He forced himself to politely push her off, mutter a quick Hi, and keep walking. Gray shot him a sympathetic glance as she trailed after him, chattering away about some crap he really didn't care about.

Natsu found his eyes drawn once more to the new girl. What was her name? Ah yes, Lucy Heartfilia. Frankly he hadn't been able to stop staring at her since she got there. Once he first made contact with those beautiful dark honey orbs he felt like his stomach had decided it was a pancake. He lost count of the number of times it flipped over. She looked like a nerd but there was just something about her…he felt there was more to this girl than met the eye. It was like there was a magnetic force pulling him towards her.

Lucy waited until the popular group disappeared then turned to Levy. "Popular groups?" "Yup" Levy replied with a grimace. Linking their arms, Levy filled her in on the way to lunch. "For the girls, the raven haired is Kira Silver, the light blonde is Kayley Hedges, the brunette is Emma Green, and the ring leader of them all, white haired and beautiful Lissana Strauss". Levy's voice was coloured with disgust as the name left her mouth. "Bitch?" Lucy asked. Levy grinned at that. "Bitch" she agreed.

"All cheerleaders, with Lissana as the head cheerleader of course" Levy continued. "As for the boys, the blue haired one with the tattoo is called Jellal Fernandes, the one with all the piercings is called Gajeel Redfox, the navy haired one without a shirt – he strips all the time, no one knows why - is called Gray Fullbuster, and the pink haired on is called Natsu Dragneel". Natsu…so that's what his name was. "All on Fairy Tail Basketball team, Natsu as captain of course"

"Practically every girl in the school has a crush on at least one of them" Levy finished. A sly grin crept onto Lucy's face. "Oh? You too then, if that blush on your face when you mentioned Gajeel is anything to go by". Levy went scarlet at that, and muttered something under her breath. "Not so loud" she hissed. Lucy giggled loudly, and Levy soon joined in. Soon they reached the canteen, and Levy pushed the sleek glass doors open.

The canteen was neat and clean. Students chattered and gossiped loudly at the many booths with white tables and blue leather seats scattered across the room. The walls were lined with large glass windows, giving the room an open feeling. "Levy!" Levy and Lucy both turned to see a girl with scarlet hair waving from a table near the front of the room. Levy grinned and dragged Lucy over with her. "Hi guys!" she chirped cheerfully. She slid into the seat opposite and wagged for Lucy to sit down beside her. Lucy quickly slid onto the blue leather beside her.

Across from them were two girls that Lucy recognised from her first class. The first was the blue haired girl who looked like she was going to faint because of Gray. The second was the beautiful red head who called them over. "Lucy Heartfilia, correct?" the red head asked. Lucy nodded. A smile spread across the red head's face. "Erza Scarlet. Student Council President" she added shaking Lucy's hand. "Pleasure to meet you" Lucy smiled. She turned to the blue haired girl, who was staring at her suspiciously through narrowed eyes.

"Are you Juvia's love rival?" she asked. Lucy frowned in confusion. Levy rolled her eyes. "This is Juvia Lockser. She has an unhealthy obsession with a certain Gray Fullbuster, and insists every other girl is a love rival. Just ignore it" she said. "Oh I see. Don't worry Juvia I have no interest in Gray" Lucy said. Juvia gave her one last suspicious look before smiling. "Juvia is pleased to meet you then, Lucy" she said. "She talks in third person, you'll get used to it" Levy whispered in Lucy's ear.

"So how do you like Fairy Tail so far, Lucy?" Erza asked. "So far I love it!" Lucy replied, grinning. They chatted some more about random stuff, before Juvia let out a squeak and her eyes started glowing. Lucy, Levy and Erza turned to see Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Jellal, Lissana, Kira, Kayley and Emma enter the canteen. All eyes shifted to them. Lissana and co. broke away and went back out, while Natsu and the boys made their way up a short flight of stairs to a single large booth on an upper level. After they sat down conversations picked up where they left off.

Lucy turned to the others with a raised eyebrow. "Lissana and the others don't believe in 'eating carbs or fat' so they normally go starve themselves in what they call 'dieting' and terrorize some poor children and spread rumours about who broke up with who" Levy commentated. "That table up there is reserved for the popular boys, aka Natsu etc." Erza finished. "They have a table reserved for them?" Lucy asked in disbelief. "Oh yeah. Their parents are filthy rich and provide most of the schools funding, so the four of them can normally get away with anything" Levy said.

"No surprises there" Lucy muttered. "Rich people get away with everything" she added. Levy nodded. "Natsu's dad owns some huge company. Dragneel Incorporated or something like that" Erza said. Lucy looked at both of them. Juvia was openly swooned over 'how handsome her beloved Gray was', but Lucy didn't miss the glances Levy was throwing in Gajeel's direction, or – more importantly – Erza's subtle peeks at Jellal.

"So Erza" she began. "What's up with you and Jellal?" Erza promptly went the colour of her hair and started babbling. Levy giggled. "She's got you there Erza. Erza totally has a crush on Jellal" Erza twiddled her thumbs and lowered her head. "Well I wouldn't let that one get away" Lucy said. "He's not half bad looking". Erza smiled and laughed along with her and Levy.