Chapter 2: Awkward Encounters

Another rewrite to go with the first chapter...l

"Welcome back, Lucy."

His deep voice caressed her ears as she flipped through the pages of her text. A sigh escaped her, but Lucy didn't look up at the man talking to her. Of course, Loke would be sitting right next to her. One of the journalism majors in her year, Loke had been in almost every single elective course she had opted to take. It appeared that again, he'd be in her courses this year.

Loke was a good guy – sure. But his forwardness with his feelings for Lucy had always been a cause of strife between the two. Lucy was here to learn and had Loke actually asked her out instead of trying to get into her pants, Lucy might have given him a shot. Sure, she was in love with the idea of love and the steamy romance novels she borrowed from Erza gave her a lot of ideas, but Lucy didn't just spread her legs for every good looking man to walk her way.

"Loke, do you pay someone in the scheduling department? Because it's starting to get a little more than coincidental that you're in all of my electives." Lucy turned a page, giving him a look over the top of her book as she did so. He still looked as well put together as he had last year, and if Lucy had been bold enough to accept his offer of "getting together outside of class", she was sure she'd have the time of her life. He was a total charmer, a smooth talker, and actually, a really good partner to have review her papers. Their playful banter had often been a highlight of her day.

A soft laugh escaped him as nudged Lucy. "Come on, Lu. You know you missed me this summer. If it helps any, I definitely missed you."

"Laying on the charm rather thick pretty early on in the semester, don't you think? You're going to run out of compliments at this rate and then what will I look forward to every day?" Her sarcasm was not missed by others around them, however Loke's smile widened at her retort.

"My compliments are endless for you, my dear."

Her blush settled on her cheek at his last comment – obviously he had upped his flattery over the summer. Saved by the bell, as it would seem, the professor cleared his throat before she could reply.

It was going to be an interesting year - that was for sure.

Class was over before she knew it, and Lucy bundled her notes into her cute new bag. Levy had helped her buy it before classes and Lucy was pleased with her decision to do so.

"So, you up for editing sessions like last year, Lucy?" Loke pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he stood to leave. "It doesn't look like our course load is going to be as easy as it was last year. This guy looks like he's going to be a total hard ass and I need to secure a decent GPA for an internship I'd like to apply to this summer."

"Yeah – that would be nice, I think. I really want to work on implementing some new character development techniques I learned at a conference this summer. I'll bring the notes I took so you can look them over too." Lucy hoisted her bag over her shoulder as she walked toward the door with him.

"Cool. I'll text you later this week?

"Um…yeah. Sure."

"Good." He paused for a moment as they exited the room in silence. "What are you doing this weekend? My fraternity is having a party and if you'd like to come, I wouldn't complain."

Lucy's eyes lit up at the invite. This would be the perfect opportunity to help Levy break out of her shell before classes got too involved and she went back to her little hermit hole in the library. "Hmm. Can I bring some friends?"

"If you mean Levy….." Loke hesitated for a moment before he nodded. "Actually, you know what, bring her along!"

"And Erza, Cana, Mira, Lisanna….." Lucy listed off several other names before she looked up at him expectantly. The guys in his house were going to love him – he just hit the babe jackpot.

Meanwhile on the other side of campus…..

Anxiety crept up her neck. Were they looking at her? Was she sticking out like a sore thumb? Did her blue hair make her look like a weirdo? Did it clash with her eyes or her outfit? She was definitely changing it back as soon as Lucy let her.

"Levy McGarden?" Roll call. This class was much smaller than her previous ones. The professor seemed like he was interested in getting to know his students as best as he could, which was a good sign for the petite blunette. When professors got to know you, they could help you identify your weaknesses within the course. Doing so would definitely set her up for success.

"Present!" She squeaked as her hand shot in the air shyly. Out of all the other individuals in the class, Levy felt like she had to be the youngest one – it was a pretty high probability since it was a graduate level course. Seniors and graduate students occupied most of the seats, but this was biostatistics and unfortunately, a requirement for medical school.

The professor continued down the list of students, pausing for a moment as he read one of the last names. "And I see that Mr. Redfox has decided to grace us with his presence today."

A dark haired man sat in the back of the class, laughing at something is buddy said. Levy couldn't help but stare. He had so many piercings and his contacts gave his eyes a red tint. His hair was long and thick, something that obviously made Levy jealous. At least he had hair that was a normal color!

He wore a lot of black, but Greek letters could be found on his t-shirt that indicated he was a member of one of the more popular fraternities on campus. He appeared to be the very definition of rebellion. Piercings. Bad boy attitude. Muscles that made Levy's insides scream with delicious attention.

"Gihihee. I see you haven't forgotten me, Macao."

"Mr. Redfox, it's Dr. Macao unless I indicate otherwise. You'd be wise to respect my preferred designation or you'll be lucky to pass the class. I'm sure you remember last semester."

Gajeel's smile turned a bit wicked at that comment, but he slouched back in his seat. Levy's curiosity was piqued and her eyes continued to linger on him for longer than was appropriate. He just looked so….

"Whatchu lookin' at, Shrimp?" His voice tore her from her trance and Levy felt a red blush cover her cheeks as she quickly turned around in her seat. His tone hadn't been kind at all and Levy hadn't been here to make enemies. She was a good girl….she just couldn't help looking at him and wondering. Wondering about the piercings that covered his body and whether or not they hurt.

"Watch where you're going!" His voice hit her ears again as she felt her body lurch forward. Her books ended up scattered all over the floor in front of her – her notes from today's class crunching under the fall of his foot. She didn't know if he'd pushed her on purpose or if it had been an honest accident, but based on the smirk that covered his face, Levy took a guess that it was intentional. One of the dark haired boy's friends stumbled up behind him, giving him a high five as they walked out the door.

"She looks like she's five, ya know?"

"Yeah. Probably one of those freaks who advanced like six grades in school."

"Maybe we can get her to do our homework."

Their voices drifted away down the hallway and Levy closed her eyes as she sighed. She was strangely reminded of high school and the way she had always been picked on for being smart. Why was that such a bad thing? Intelligence was a great quality to have. Why was she considered a freak for being smart? Maybe it was the hair. It had to be the hair. People didn't get picked on in college, did they?

"Hey, you dropped this." A feminine voice caught her attention and Levy turned with a start.

Standing before her was a very beautiful woman. Her hair was blue like Levy's and it…well, it didn't look so bad. It looked really nice, actually.

"Um, thanks. I appreciate the help."

"It's no problem. I figured you wouldn't want to lose those."

"Yeah. It would be a rough start to classes if I did." Levy cracked a soft smile at the other woman. "Don't think I'm weird for saying this, but your hair…it looks really nice."

The other woman smiled in response, tugging at her blue hair consciously. "Thanks! I just had the color freshened up last week. Yours looks nice too! How often do you color it?"

Levy chatted with her for what seemed like an entirely too long period of time. Their names had been exchanged and Levy discovered that this Juvia girl was a junior, had ambitions to become an engineer with a focus on fuel development, and that she was a really sweet individual.

"Oh hey, I forgot to tell you something…." Juvia hadn't missed the shove that Levy had received earlier. "Ignore Gajeel and his friend. He has an attitude problem today, I guess. I could see him being a little pissed off that he's being showed up by someone younger than him, but..." Juvia trailed off for a moment. "Gajeel had a rough time last year in one of our professor's classes. And, no offense or anything, but you're quickly looking to be one of the better students based on your answers to the questions asked today."

Levy gave Juvia a weak smile in return before she finished shoving her papers into her own bag. "Yeah. He didn't seem like a nice person. I think I'm going to avoid him if possible."

Juvia just chuckled. "Come on, Levy. Let me give you my cellphone number so I can send you my stylist's contact information. You'll absolutely love her and if you don't love your hair already, you will after meeting her. I swear!"

Levy plopped down in a desk next to Lucy. It was the last class of the day and luckily, the literature course she had picked up happened to be the same one that Lucy had needed. "You know what I need?" Levy asked as she pulled out a pen and her notebook. "I need a shot of bourbon and some seriously good junk food. I'm thinking cookies?"

Lucy had her hand on her face, looking as tired as Levy felt. Seriously – the first day of classes were so draining. "Girl, I'm taking a nap for days. Oh, and don't kill me, but we're going to a party at Loke's fraternity on Saturday."

"Great. Lucy, I don't mind being your wingman, but…." Levy sighed with a smile. "A fraternity party? Really?"

"Hey, he asked and I couldn't say no."

More people filed into the large auditorium. This was a particularly popular course and the university had been required to expand to a bigger space to accommodate interest.

"Levy! Check out your hair! Way to go, girl!"

"Dude, you really look awesome. I can't believe you did it!"

"NO. WAY. LEVY MCGARDEN HAS BLUE HAIR! SO COOL!"

She even had a few people toss her a high five. Part of her was surprised that people knew who she was. The other part of her was even more surprised that the blue hair was a total hit. Lucy sat next to her friend with a cheesy smile on her face.

"See, Lev? I told you that it didn't look bad."

Author's Note:

R&R please.

So thoughts on this so far? Do you guys like it? Please leave me a comment or shoot me a message to let me know! I'm definitely feeling this story now that I've made some changes. It flows much nicer in my head than it did before!

Also, shout out to Math-Otaku for the reviews. I took your comments regarding Lily and reread my writing...I did put him in there to respond much harsher than I thought he had in my head - hence the removal of him from this chapter. Thank you for your positivity! It's been quite nice to see!