A/N: Hello everyone! :D Since this is a long chapter, I wanted to put the author's note up front.

Thank you so much to all of you who have read, reviewed, +Alert'd, and/or +Fave'd this story! It makes me feel all bubbly and flattered inside, and I just want to say that I appreciate your support. Tee hee. * u *

IMPORTANT!: This latter portions of this chapter has been severely revamped; if you haven't read the second draft yet, please do so. :)

Far From Revered

by Luey

Chapter Four- "Abrupt Changes"

It was now about forty minutes before the first class. The trio, having just arrived at their table by the library, hastily compared class schedules to see if they shared any. After scrutinizing the three papers thoroughly however, Jet was heartbroken. He sat in a corner by himself, lamenting the fact that he would only have AP Calculus BC with Levy. That wouldn't have been so bad, except the fact that Droy would be there as well.

"Killing my mojo," he commented. Droy didn't looked too pleased either.

Yet two milliseconds later, Droy's countenance completely turned around. He even started celebrating as he discovered that he would be able to share first period Organic Chemistry with Levy. Most importantly, it would be without Jet, who was taking Physics BC two rooms down. In the matters of love, even the best of friendships was of no consequence.

Meanwhile, Levy sat on her own side of the table, a strange and unreadable smiled plastered all over her face. Sometimes, she just didn't know how to deal with her friends.

"It's okay Jet," Levy said comfortingly. Clearly she didn't fully understand why her best friends were acting this way. "We still have lunch together!"

In response, the ginger teen slumped further into his corner.

"Yeah, Jet!" Droy interjected cheerfully. "Lunch!"

Jet looked up, a murderous glare in his eyes. Then they started arguing about who knows what. Levy thought she heard something along the lines of "First you make fun of the hat, and now this?" in there somewhere, but everything became a cloud of fists and angry words so quickly that she couldn't be sure. (Said hat, though, miraculously remained on Jet's head throughout the entire scuffle.)

Levy sighed as she looked down at her schedule. "Room H-126 for Organic Chemistry…" she murmured to herself.

Levy gave a light shudder; she had actually wanted to take AP Biology, but the class had filled up too quickly before she had gotten a chance to enroll. Really, she wasn't looking forward to O-Chem at all. She only signed up for the class because Droy seemed so excited about it.

"Droy, I think that I might drop first period…" Levy murmured aloud. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, elbow propped up on the table. The teen hesitated, knowing that it meant something to Droy to have a period together. "What do you think?"

In the midst of all the fighting, Droy looked up. Jet's hand was gripped tightly around his chin, distorting the shape of his open mouth. "Brugh?"

"Is that okay?" Levy asked plaintively.

"Um…" Droy hadn't been listening. But neither had Jet, so when Droy looked at his best friend for the answer, the former could only shrug. "Sure?"

The blue-haired girl smiled brilliantly. "I'm so glad! I'll stop by the Main Office right now to change my schedule!"

"Levy, what are you talking about?"Jet asked. He and Droy exchanged a glance.

She ignored a slight twitch from her left eye. Levy reasoned that Jet probably wasn't listening, but surely Droy would have. After all, both were usually quite attentive, especially if she said one of their names. (She didn't understand why, but she accepted it as a fact, regardless.) After glancing at her watch, Levy started gathering her things.

"I'm dropping O-Chem," she said, now resolute after getting the "OK" from Droy. "I didn't really want to take it in the first place, but I was worried about hurting Droy if I didn't take it with him. Then he said it was okay."

Droy looked like he was about to tear up; his advantage over Jet was lost.

"Oh, of course!" Jet said with a smirk plastered over his face. "Go for it, Levs."

This time, it was Droy who looked murderously at Jet.

"Oh, shut up," Droy snarled, mocking Jet's previous statement, before pouncing angrily on his best friend.

Laughing awkwardly, Levy stood up with her bag in tow. Not knowing how to deal with the situation any longer, Levy slipped away, hoping the two wouldn't notice. (They didn't.)

Walking briskly out of the Main Office with twenty minutes to spare, Levy was strangely excited about her new class schedule, no longer weighed down at the prospect of taking the dreaded science class. So enthralled by the change was the Solid Script mage, she was now able to overlook the fact that she had to fit a ten minute walk from one classroom to the next in the five minutes allotted. In fact, Levy had move swiftly from a third floor classroom to another one on a different building.

Still, Levy concluded (convinced herself, rather) that she had ample time during the passing period to get from her new first period classroom to her second. There was a spring in her step now; it was one of the best things that had happened to her in a while.

During her freshman year at Fairy Academy, Levy had made a life changing decision. She had just transferred from another school at the time, with Jet and Droy. Remembering how little she thought of the lackluster students, who thought the whole of the English language was stupid, Levy McGarden decided that she wanted better for herself and enrolled herself in the Honors English Program.

She had been nervous at first; the program was renowned to be frighteningly rigorous, the course descriptions already promising weekly in-class essays and abundant reading material. In truth, Levy regretted signing up almost immediately afterwards, scared that she would be unable to cope with the load. But one person had changed her whole outlook.

There had been an introductory meeting for the incoming students. Really, it was to get all the "formalities" out of the way, so it wouldn't cut into actual class time; everyone received the summer assignments as well as the course syllabus, and a "Let's get to know each other!" game to get everyone acquainted and accustomed to each other. Everyone in that room knew that it was practically useless, except for Levy. Either the teacher didn't realize that the students had been classmates for years, following each other through all of the advanced classes, with hardly a change in the line-up, or he was trying to accommodate the new girl. (Somehow it was still fun.)

Levy remembered how there were only fifteen other people in the room; all of them with a steely look in their eyes even though they were chatting amiably amongst friends. She had shuddered, worried about fitting in with the long-established group of friends, and already feeling miles behind everyone else.

Shouldn't I have that look too, if I want to work on this level?

It's lonely without Jet and Droy.

What if I'm not good enough?

Then one person changed Levy's whole disposition.

As the mock class continued, Levy realized how fun the class could be, all because of her teacher. He was goofy and serious about his subject matter at the same time, severely enthused by all the literary genius of authors long past, the gentle subtleties of words and symbols and metaphors and all that. He was simply excited beyond belief to impart his knowledge and enthusiasm about writing onto his students, and unfathomably so.

Most importantly, he had this honest and interested look about him as he listened to one of his students speak, as if he truly wanted to hear their thoughts. (It was a seriously self-esteem boost.) Even better, the students were excited to participate in the exchange of knowledge.

Never before had the blue-haired teen been able to thank him; now, as his Teacher's Assistant, Levy had a whole year to try.

She arrived in five minutes, taking the opportune seat nearest the classroom library.

There was no one else in the room so she had her book open; but like the morning funk she was in, she couldn't bring herself to fully concentrate on the text. Without her friends or the guild to distract her from her constant thinking, Levy was prey to her own thoughts, which annoyed her because it also kept her from reading.

But now, Levy had thousands of butterflies in her stomach, her mind whirring at a hundred miles per hour from uncontrolled nervousness. She was relishing in glee from being back in the familiar room,running through various fantastical situations about how she would introduce herself to her teacher, how he would react, and so on.

But Levy's musings were soon ended.

It was because Gajeel, the big Dragon Slayer, entered with his cat. It certainly put a stop to her train of thought, preventing her from forming coherent sentences.

"What are you doing here?" Gajeel wondered. "Last time I checked, you weren't a brat."

"B-Brat?" Levy squeaked.

"He means those in the lowest level of high school," Pantherlily offered helpfully.

Levy had only known the black cat for a week or so, but she had already warmed to him. Not only was he super adorable, he had a certain air about him that Levy liked.

"Freshmeat," Gajeel grumbled. He looked back at Levy. "You never answered my question."

"U-uh," Levy started. Evidently, she was still trying to get over seeing Gajeel the first thing in the morning. "I have a free period this year, so I chose to TA. The teacher here was my English teacher for my freshman year."

Who could blame her for being so shocked? True, she was still twenty-five percent terrified of Gajeel, but Levy dismissed that as a good reason. The fact of the matter was that this conversation had been the longest one that they shared to date. Every time they passed each other in the guild, all Levy had managed was a shy smile and/or a little wave. Gajeel wasn't much better; he either gave a small nod or a grunt in acknowledgement. Any and all conversations usually started with "So…the weather, eh?" and ended with "Yeah, the food in the cafeteria could be better."

But owing to their past history, their short-lived exchanges had been a significant improvement from a pained look from Gajeel as Levy hid behind a table. Levy had acknowledged how hard Gajeel was trying for the guild, trying to get along with the others. So, she was determined to be friends with him too. Somehow, she was glad that everyone had sort-of accepted him as a friend; it would have been too sad to live without friends, especially in Fairy Tail, who had a reputation for being overly amorous.

Gajeel cracked a smile. (But it looked like a smirk, so it was pretty much ineffectual.) "Really? I'm a TA for the geezer too. The Master assigned him to me a couple of weeks ago."

There was a pause.

"He's not a geezer, Gajeel," Levy said, frowning.

"Gihihi," he chuckled, taking a seat across from her. He turned himself around his chair, legs situated rebelliously on either side of the blue plastic. "We'll see."