I don't own Fairy Tail

"I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents."- Pablo Picasso

It was raining that day.

I had rushed out the door with a half eaten bagel in my mouth, shouting a muffled, "Goodbye, I love you!" to my dad. '

It took only a minute outside before I was completely soaked, my clothes clinging awkwardly to my body and my hair plastered to my forehead. I nearly tripped on a crack in the sidewalk on my way to school. I would have, if it hadn't of been for the intervention of an interesting stranger.

I was running blindly ahead, trying my best to get to school on time. The early morning rain created a hazy fog that made it hard for me to see ten feet in front of me. The front edge of my foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk, and I felt myself falling forward.

Before I could introduce myself to the pavement, I felt a hand grip my upper arm, saving me from certain doom.

I looked up instantly, grateful to whoever had kept me upright. My gaze was met by dark onyx eyes, andーpink hair? This strawberry stranger was flashing me a toothy grin, and it was at that moment that I took in his full appearance. He had a strong-looking body, lean but muscular. His dark eyes were set by strong, dark brows and long eyelashes. His smile accentuated his sharp jawline and pointy canines. He towered over me, a foot taller than my 5'1 self.

He was cute.

Really cute.

I stumbled on my words, trying for ¨Thank you¨, and ¨I'm sorry¨, but instead what came out of my mouth was ¨You sorry?¨

He cocked an eyebrow at me, but his smile remained. Which only made my embarrassment worse.

¨Oh my god. I am so sorry. That was not what I meant to say.¨ I managed an awkward laugh.

He seemed to shrug it off. ¨No biggie. I save at least ten girls a day from this very situation.¨

Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrow. ¨Do you now? And here I thought I was special.¨ I give him my best fake pout.

He chuckled. ¨I'm Natsu.¨

¨My name's Lucy.¨

He smiled even wider. "Well, it was nice to meet you Luigi, but I'm gonna be late for my first day of school, so I'd better get going."

"It's Lucy! L-U-C-Y. And I just so happen to be late as well. Do you go to Magnolia High School?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I'm a junior. Is that where you go?"

"Yep. I'm a junior too." I said matter-of-factly. "I can walk you there."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Please do. I've been walking around forever, but I can't seem to find the main street. I live on Fairy Tail Road, and it's pretty far from everything."

"I can relate. That's where I live. Come on Nasty, we have to make it before the tardy bell." I said, smiling slyly.

"Yeah, haha. Let's just go."

I had never connected with someone so quickly and easily as I had with Natsu. We laughed all the way to school, and I began to want to know him better. He was funny, cute, and it didn't seem like he was trying to get in my pants.

When we finally reached the main doors, I found myself wishing we had more time together.

"Okay, we have arrived with four minutes to spare. Welcome to Magnolia High." I said, adding in comical jazz hands.

"It's so… small." Natsu pointed out, clearly unimpressed.

"Well don't be so disappointed. We have an excellent football program." I joked.

"Small southern town? Football? No!" Natsu feigned surprise.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. But seriously, in this school, if you're on Varsity football, you're a god."

Natsu smiled a mischievous smile, and I knew he had a devious plan.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just watch me, Lucy. I'm gonna take over this school. I'm gonna be the star player of the football team before you know it!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Right. Anyway, show me your schedule and I'll walk you to your first class. Wouldn't want you to be late on your first day." I teased.

"I have AP World History with Mr. Clive first period." Natsu said, pulling a crumpled blue schedule out of his back pocket.

"Lucky you. That just so happens to be my first period."

Natsu had to stop at his locker, so I rushed to class alone, hoping to avoid being late to Gildarts' class. That was Mr. Clive's first name, but no one called him Mr. Clive.

I stepped past the threshold of the door right as the tardy bell rang, celebrating internally. I had made it in time.

"That was a close call, Lucy. Please sit down now." Gildarts directed.

I made my way to the back of the class, taking my seat beside my best friends, Levy McGarden and Erza Scarlet. Levy was a petite, unassuming girl with a love of books, while Erza was the polar opposite. She was tall and intimidating, with long red hair and serious brown eyes. She wasn't stupid by any means, but she preferred to spend her spare time dominating on the track team and being Student Council President.

As I sat down, Levy turned around to whisper at me. "What happened? You're always at school at least ten minutes before the bell."

"I had an... interesting encounter on my way here." I said, giving nothing away. I didn't want to tell Levy about Natsu yet. She would go nuts, and I didn't even know if I liked the guy yet.

Just as she turned back around, Natsu came into class. Immediately, all eyes were on him. Some were shocked by his mane of pink hair, while others were appraising his good looks. I could already tell some girls were interested. An unwelcome feeling of jealousy arose in me.

What was I thinking? I had only just met the guy. I shook it off and kept a blank face, trying not to betray my emotions.

"And you are?" Gildarts asked, obviously annoyed that Natsu was late to class.

"Natsu Dragneel, sir. I'm new here." Natsu responded, trying to avoid Gildarts' unnerving glare.

"Well, Natsu, could you explain to me why you were late today? Had to touch up your roots?" Gildarts teased, raising his eyebrows. The class chuckled, amused at his joke.

"It's actually my natural hair. And I had an amusing encounter on my way to school." Natsu explained, a small smile on his face.

I cringed internally. That was almost exactly what I had said to Levy. She would know for sure that we had met. So much for keeping it a secret.

"Alright, Natsu, I'll let it slide, just this once. Take a seat next to Lucy, back there." Gildarts pointed to me. As Natsu made his way down the aisle of seats, twenty pairs of eyes followed him. He sat down next to me, giving me a wide smile.

I turned to the front of the room, aware that people were staring.

"All right class, let's get started with the Cambrian Explosion…"

Gildarts began, but I wasn't listening. All I could think of was the boy sitting next to me. I didn't dare look, though. What if he caught me? What if he thought I liked him? What if I do?

"Lucy?" Gildarts said, snapping me out of my daze.

"Could you repeat the question?" I asked, embarrassed.

"Daydreaming, Miss Heartfilia? And it was, what triggered the Cambrian Explosion?"

"An increase of oxygen in the ocean." I replied. I was good at history, so Gildarts was never too hard on me. Still, I was concerned. I had known Natsu for less than a day and he was already distracting me. I needed to get a grip.

Just then, the bell rang, and I vowed to keep Natsu off my mind.

"Hey, Lucy, what class do you have next?" Natsu asked, jogging to walk beside me in the hallway.

"Astronomy III." I said, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Cool! I've got Art next. I wouldn't even be taking it if it wasn't required." Natsu complained.

"That sucks. Anyway, I guess I'll see you at lunch." I said.

"Yeah. See ya later, Luce." Natsu waved goodbye and disappeared down a side hallway.

Luce? I thought, my heart pounding. He was calling me by a nickname? Were we that close already?

"I don't think he has any real concept of boundaries." I muttered, making my way to class.

Astronomy flew by, just as it always did. I loved it, and hoped to pursue it as a career. To be able to study the vast night sky was my dream. My mom had introduced it to me when I was little, teaching me all the constellations and their names. She told me that each one had its own personality. I loved those nights. Outside on the grassy hill by our house, it felt like time moved differently. Everything was new, and interesting. My world was so small, just me and my mom and the stars. I had no worries, no responsibility.

And I had my mom.

I swallowed, blinking away my tears. I slipped into the bathroom and quickly made my way into a stall. It was lunchtime, and thankfully, no one else was in the bathroom. I let my tears slip silently out.

Twenty minutes later, the tears subsided. I went to look at myself in the mirror, anticipating the blotchy mess. Seeing myself, I almost laughed. Mascara trails ran all the way down my face, and my eyes were an unsightly shade of red. I splashed cold water on my face, wiping the mascara away with a towel.

By then, I was an expert at hiding my little breakdowns. I had gotten so good that only Levy and Erza could tell that I had been crying. But they never asked. They didn't have to.

I pressed a towel dipped in cold water on each of my eyes, calming the swelling. I reapplied my mascara and put a little concealer under my eyes. I pinched my cheeks and took three deep breaths. That was my routine. Then, looking at myself in the mirror, it was nearly impossible to know what I had been doing. I grabbed my phone and checked the time.

12:00.

Crap! The lunch bell was going to ring in two minutes. I hurried out of the bathroom, making my way to my next class. I didn't see the point in going to the cafeteria at that point. Erza and Levy would understand.

I slid into my seat in AP English, putting my incident in the back of my mind. I loved English. If I couldn't be an astronomer, I would be a writer. Creating a whole world out of just words was an amazing concept to me, and I yearned to explore it.

Natsu came into class soon after I did, pausing to talk with Mr. Makarov, the English teacher. He then came to sit beside me. He looked as though he was going to start a conversation, but stopped short. He gave me an odd look, scrutinizing me with his gaze.

"Luce, have you been crying?"

Alright Guys, that was it for this chapter. I hope you like the mini-cliffhanger. This is going to be a multi-chapter story. I'm hoping to get around 50K words in. Summer is coming, so I'll probably be updating pretty frequently. But I do have exams coming up in late May so there will probably only be about two or three more chapters between now and then.

BTW, for those who don't know, here's a little reference to some terms mentioned that might be unfamiliar:

Junior= Grade 11

AP= Advanced Placement (It's an honors class)

Cambrian Explosion= Not an actual explosion, just a term for a period in history (before humans) when there was a rapid increase in the creation of new and more complex species of animals

Don't forget to like and comment, and follow my story for updates!