It was another Monday in Erza's second year of high school.
She could feel another boring week of work and studies waiting for her. To be honest, she was hesitant of walking past the school gates of Fairy Tail Academy. She just firmly stood at the corner of the school building, watching other students pass by. But here Erza was, with sunglasses on along with a hat that had her red locks tucked inside. She just stood, scanning.
Where's is he? she thought. He has to be somewhere. . .
"Erza!" a familiar voice called.
The redhead immediately turned around. Crossing the street was Lucy Heartfilia, happily skipping towards her, her blonde hair swept up by the spring wing. When she arrived, Erza immediately frowned. "I told you to stop calling my name so loudly! You know what will happen when the students realize I'm here. We're just lucky that nobody took too much notice of what you just said!"
Lucy sighed. "I wonder if even half of the students know your real name. And besides, you just look more suspicious in that outfit, in case you didn't know."
"Whatever. No one seems to realize. At least not yet."
"Don't you wanna get to class? I know we have potions first, but there are ten minutes left and you better show up or else the class will be disappointed in . . ."
Erza covered Lucy's mouth. "I didn't say I was gonna skip class in the first place. Just give me two minutes and we'll get inside." The redhead continued to look down the block in an attempt to spot someone.
"Looking for a special boy?" the blonde teased. As a response, Erza shot a glare at her. Lucy added, "Are you gonna wait here, even if the bell rings?"
Erza's face flushed at her friend's comment. "O-of course not!" she stuttered.
Lucy smirked. "You gotta stop playing goody-two-shoes. Haven't you done something bad in your life before? C'mon, Eru! Let's just skip potions class. Just for today. Please?!" She tried to show Erza her puppy eyes, but her friend simply ignored them. Not that the redhead was going to agree to the idea anyway.
Jeez, Erza. You're always so well-behaved, no wonder everyone looks up to you, the blonde thought. Ever since Erza was a kindergartener, she was nicknamed "Titania," or in other words, the "Fairy Queen." Lucy had to admit, Erza was always beautiful, kind, graceful, formal, and always followed the rules, thus earning this title. But Lucy knew Erza disliked being called that; it made Erza angry. People looked up to Erza because of her title, of course, but to the point people thought she was some sort of goddess or magical being. And since Erza was considered some sort of "holy person," Erza had trouble fitting in and making friends, except for Lucy and. . .
"Gray!" Erza excitedly mumbled to herself. She felt her heart skip a beat, and her cheeks heated as she saw the sleek and dark-haired boy jogging towards their direction.
And as usual, girls were surrounding him like a swarm of bees.
"Gray-senpai, will you accept my love letter?" one girl asked.
"Senpai, can you date me?" asked another.
"Gray, give me your autograph!"
"Will you show me your abs?"
"Gray! Marry me and make children with me!"
He flinched at the last comment, but overall, he still ignored all his fangirls. That was one thing Erza loved about Gray. No matter however his fangirls disturb him, he keeps his cool and ignores them. So what should she be jealous about?
Lucy snickered. Being Erza's friend since childhood, she knew what that redhead was thinking about. It's been 12 years already, why don't you just confess?! Erza, you may be shy, but you HAVE TO MAKE A MOVE AND STOP BEING SO RESERVED! were the words the blonde so desperately wanted to tell her friend. Oh wait, Lucy already did for a hundred times before. But did Erza listen? No.
Gray walked up to Erza and executed a smile. Sweat beads ran down his face, only making his smile even more charming. "Erza," he greeted.
She nodded slowly in recognition, as she was mesmerized by his flashy smile that would make any girl drop dead. And that's exactly what happened to Gray's surrounding fangirls. Gray ignored them and chuckled, "Why, you have quite an outfit today." He pulled off the redhead's sunglasses and took off her hat, and placed it in the girl's book bag. Erza could feel some deadly glares for "Titania" was with the most adored boy in Fairy Tail Academy.
"Sorry if I'm late. I forgot how Mondays felt like," he chortled and awkwardly scratched his head. "And stop disguising yourself, you're beautiful, so don't hide your gorgeous face."
"Y-yeah," the redhead smiled back. Her heart was beating as fast as ever when she heard his comment. She looked into his dark eyes, which were full of excitement after being reunited after a weekend.
"So, shall we go?" he asked extending his hand. Erza smiled and took it. Gray's warm and familiar hand bought back memories that started since she was five. It was always Gray's hand that would be wrapped around hers. It always was and she wondered how long it would stay like that.
Not for long. Erza told herself and heavily sighed.
"Something wrong, Erza?" he tenderly asked. But he knew what she was thinking. If their parents knew about their friendship . . . "Just don't think about it," he said, and Erza immediately knew what he was referring to. She gave a slight nod, and the two started towards Fairy Tail Academy gates. On the way, students happily greeted the two and bowed, since Titania was present.
And there was Lucy, watching. Of course, she wanted her two friends to be together, but something always doubted her. Erza Scarlet is Titania. She's the one and only "fairy queen." Gray Fullbuster is the most handsome boy in the entire Fairy Tail Academy. All the girls adore him and all the boys envy him. But the Scarlets and Fullbusters families are business company rivals. Erza was the sole heir of her family's company, and the same thing applies to Gray. And Lucy can tell there was no way neither of their parents would allow their friendship to come to light.
"Titania and Gray are like Romeo and Juliet," she heard a student whisper to her friend. "Isn't it so romantic?!"
Her green-haired friend scoffed. "There's no way those two are ever going to become official, for I am going to marry Gray!"
"Ssh! This is Titania we are talking about! She's so pretty, she really is like a real queen. Titania. . .What a heavenly name!"
Lucy immediately confronted them. "Um, I don't know if you know but this 'Titania' you speak of has a name, and it's Erza Scarlet," she told the girls in a nasty tone. Lucy knew if Erza was here, she'd get upset for people calling her 'Titania.' The blonde continued, "And if you really wanna get Gray's attention, how about you try covering your cleavage since he's never gonna date a dumb hoe like you." Lucy gave a sarcastic smile as the girls' jaws dropped open.
Serves them right! Lucy thought as she happily skipped towards the school building.
When Erza entered the Potion room with Gray, everyone in the whole room seemed to be holding their breaths in. Besides, not only was there one good-looker but two. And those two are from the richest families in Magnolia.
Whispers arose.
"Look! It's Titania and Gray!"
"Gray looks hotter with his stern face on. And look at Titania! The queen's as beautiful as always!"
"I would love it if Titania and Gray were together, but I heard its forbidden love."
"Romeo and Juliet~! Titania and Gray~!"
Erza let out a heavy sigh. She was tired of hearing the same thing over and over. But she most was tired of hearing 'Titania' over and over. Gray sensed the redhead's annoyance, lightly squeezed her hand, and led her to her seat. "See you later," he flashed his captivating smile, and his fangirls started squealing, even though it wasn't for them. He neglected their actions and headed towards his seat at the back of the room towards the window.
Soon, Lucy walked into the room, with a smirk plastered across her face. Well, I wonder what happened with her. Maybe she heard she got a full score on her Math exam, Erza thought. But then again, she IS Lucy. She chuckled at her own thinking.
When the bell rang, their potions teacher, Mr. Macao, ran into the room, stifling a few giggles from the class. He seemed to be in some sort of rush, but he didn't seem to show it much. Maybe he had an emergency meeting with the teachers? Maybe.
He greeted us joyfully and declared that he would be passing out our test papers from last week.
When Gray heard that, he wished he had the power to teleport to another world. He didn't even care if that world didn't even have water or food; he just really didn't want to see his potions grade. Potions was just never his ideal subject, not even since grade school. And considering he had a cold last week when he took the test, it added on to his desire to flee. I swear, if I get lower than an 80, I'm going just open that bottom window and jump out of this building, He told himself.
"Actually, most of you've done pretty well on the test," Mr. Macao said. Gray literally sighed out in relief.
"I really don't think most of you mind if I read your grades aloud to the class," he looked around for objections, and there was none. "Ok. Let's start. Laki Olietta: 97, Natsu Dragneel: 90, Levy McGarden: 100. . . Great job, Levy. Erza Scarlet: 100." The class started talking amongst each other.
"Wow! Titania got another full score!"
"As expected of our amazing TItania!"
Erza didn't get the big deal of getting a hundred. Besides, didn't Levy get the same grade as her? It wasn't like that Erza won some sort of national competition or whatnot. It isn't nice to judge people using grades either. Erza, you should really tell people to stop this crap, she told herself. But she knew she was never going to get the courage to do so. After being isolated as a child since she was some sort of "queen," her socializing skills were near zero, and her only friends were Lucy and Gray.
She took a glance at Levy, who was nervously staring down at her lap. Erza could tell Levy's uneasiness and, at the same time anger. I really wish people can recognize people other than myself, the redhead thought.
Gray watched Erza from the back of the room. "You should really speak up, Eru," Gray mumbled. Not that Erza was going to hear him with this much commotion in the room. But even if she did, she would never have the courage to do so. "Maybe if you told the class, or even better the entire school and city, to stop treating you like how they do, things would get better," he murmured.
He glanced at Lucy, who sat a row in front of him near the wall. Coincidentally, she looked back too and saw Gray. She rolled her eyes, showing her disapproval of the class's reaction. Besides, she knew Erza disliked the class's behavior.
Mr. Macao tapped on his bell. "Class! Please lower your voices!" he shouted. "Let me just finish the list, please." The class obeyed.
"Now," Mr. Macao started. "Lucy Heartfilia: 80 - An improvement from your usual 70s, I must say."
Lucy turned back again to try to catch Gray's gaze. When she did, she stuck her tongue out at him. Gray scoffed, thinking, She only got an 80! Psh! Of course I will beat her score since . . .
"Gray Fullbuster: 73," Mr. Macao said and eyed him suspiciously. "Young man, I hope you understand anything lower than an 75 will NOT be accepted as a passing grade during the finals," Macao said in a cold tone, making Gray get goosebumps. Gray nodded slowly and eyed Lucy, who was chuckling. Yup, Gray was really feeling the urge to open the window now.
Erza didn't even have to glance back to know what their friends were doing. Instead, she was having her own problems. Sitting in the middle of the second row, she felt so many gazes on her, most admiring and adoring, but there was a slight twinge of envy in the mix.
"Titania," Erza's seatmate who sat right behind her whispered. "You're amazing!"
The queen looked back and gave a slight nod as a recognition of the comment. "Thanks, Meredy." Though there was so much Erza wanted to say, she kept her mouth shut.
"I got an 88. I wish I was you, Titania! How amazing it must be!" Meredy sighed. "Geez, all guys have eyes on you, and all girls adore you. So lucky, so lucky. . . I wonder how it would be like if I was born rich, smart, and delicate as you."
Meredy didn't finish her comments, for there was a knock on the door. Mr. Macao stopped his reading of the grades and opened it. In walked the assistant principal, Ms. Mirajane Strauss. Her usual radiant smile lit up the room since some people were sulking over their grades and others were half-asleep. Ms. Strauss's mahogany dress suited her well and complimented her body figure. Her hair was pinned back, emphasizing her impeccable face. She started speaking to Mr. Macao in a low tone. The class, being the noisy class it is, started talking again.
"Ms. Strauss is so gorgeous! She's still a Miss, right? Not misses? If Titania won't marry me, it'll be Ms. Strauss instead. I heard she's only 20."
"Ms. Strauss might be pretty, but she's nothing compared to our fairy queen."
"Who do you think would win the pageant? Ms. Strauss or Titania?"
Erza, however, sat at her seat, furrowing her eyebrows. She strained her ears to try to figure out what Mr. Macao and Ms. Strauss were talking about. Maybe since Mr. Macao was conferring with her this morning, and that's why he was late.
Erza watched as the two finished the conversation, and Ms. Strauss looked down the hall. She flicked her finger, then gave a smile to an anonymous person. She seemed to be beckoning for someone. Mr. Macao looked down the hall and smiled at the anonymous person too. The teacher gave a handshake, followed by Ms. Strauss doing the same thing. After a few quick words, Ms. Strauss left. Mr. Macao then signaled for the person to wait outside, then the teacher entered the room.
"Class, I have something to announce," Mr. Macaosaid, tapping his desk bell furiously. But the class just got noisier since they were more curious. "CLASS!" the teacher repeated angrily. The students finally silenced. All eyes turned towards him.
Mr. Macao smirked with triumph. "So," he said so casually as if nothing had happened. "As I said, there is a transfer student. That was what Ms. Strauss and I were talking about earlier. The student will also be part of your homeroom class, obviously. I hope you can treat the newcomer with the utmost respect." He then beckoned for the new student to enter.
The class broke out in excitement. Never was there a transfer student in the class before; this was their first time. Not that Erza cared though, since she was never going to be friends with him/her. But her classmates obviously did mind.
"I wonder if it's a boy or a girl!"
"I hope she's hot, if she's a girl. Then again, no one can possibly rival our Titania."
"If it's a guy, I call dibs on him."
"I wonder if the new student ever dated. . ."
When the newcomer appeared at the doorway, the entire class inhaled audibly. There the student stood. He was a boy, whose blue hair was messed up as if he just woke up. A red tattoo was on the right side of his face and his green eyes crinkled as he smiled. As he was beaming a smile at the class, and girls swooned while the boys were resisting the urge to punch his face.
The bluehaired boy bowed. "Hello! I'm Jellal Fernandes! Nice to meet you!" he said while still maintaining his grin. Mr. Macao was obviously pleased with his behavior.
Erza scoffed. Jeez. He better stop smiling like that! It gives me the creeps!
But the longer she looked at Jellal, she quickly noticed something was wrong. For the entire duration, his gaze never shifted. He only stared at one thing and one thing only. Wait, he was staring at someone, not something. The redhead tried to follow his gaze and realized he was staring at Lucy, who was oblivious. In fact, Lucy was doodling at her notebook. She was that uninterested.
Mr. Macao spoke, "Why don't you choose your seat, Jellal? How about the one at the fourth row?" Erza's eyes widened, realizing it was the vacant seat by Lucy.
"Yes," the boy said and started walking along the aisle, which Erza was seated immediately next to. On his way to the back, Jellal greeted the students in the first row. He shook hands and told them quick jokes, which the students laughed at. Jellal beamed his smile as he laughed with them. As he moved on to the second row, he did the same and even high-fived another student. He greeted everyone . . . except for Erza. He acted as if she was another empty seat in the classroom. He didn't even say "hi" to her. No high-five. No wave. No joking. No eye smiles. Not even a glance.
Erza was unsettled. She wanted to greet him since he was a new student. This is what people do when someone new arrives, right? She was about to call his name but stopped when she realized how embarrassing and stupid it would look.
The redhead watched him greet the rest of the class. Jellal greeted every, single person, except for her.
Lucy was shocked when someone unfamiliar just plopped down in the seat next to her and said a simple "hello." She didn't even realize a new student was here until that happened. She eyed him suspiciously, waiting for something bad to happen.
"I hope we can become friends," Jellal said hopefully.
"We'll see," the blonde answered, annoyed. She continued to busy herself with her drawing.
"Whatcha drawing?" Jellal asked, trying to peer at his neighbor's notebook.
"MYOB," Lucy said. "If you keep on doing this, my boyfriend's going to get you."
"Boyfriend?"
"Yeah. So just leave me alone, because, for your knowledge, he's really good with Fire Dragon spells. In other words, he's gonna burn your ass," Lucy answered. "I don't think I'm going to be interested in paying your hospital fees, either."
Jellal chuckled. "Who is he?"
"I said, 'MYOB.'"
"Who knew you were like this?!" he laughed to himself.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, curious.
Jellal smirked. "'MYOB~!'"
Meanwhile, Gray watched from the back of the room. "Something's not right," he mumbled. Something about this new transfer student perked him up, and not in a good way. While he knew that many people were obviously in favor of something, Gray knew something was 'off.' "I guess we just gotta see," Gray said.
It was finally lunch, and with lunch came. . .
"Food!" Gray shouted happily as he unwrapped the lunch box he just bought. He started picking up the shrimp in his pesto pasta and bit it. Erza, on the other hand, was delicately eating her strawberry cake across from him. She hummed as she loved the taste when the whipped cream was blended with the strawberry flavor of the cake. Next to her sat Lucy, who was eating her sushi. It was just the three of them sitting at the corner table of the lunch table. No one else was there, because the other students believed Titania must've wanted her queenly conversations privately with her advisors.
Honestly, Erza wished the opposite. She wanted everyone to treat her as a normal person. I swear once I find out whoever started calling me "Titania," I'm going to destroy them! Mark my words! That person has no idea how badly that nickname has affected me!
Lucy started the conversation that lunch. "I don't like this Jellal," she admitted. "He's weird."
"Psh, I wonder what he's up to," Gray said, picking on his rice.
Erza nodded.
"Don't you have anything to say, Eru?" Gray wondered.
"Nothing much," she replied.
"Ha! I bet he was drooling all over when he laid his eyes on you," Lucy smirked.
Erza's chest slightly tightened at the blonde's comment. Jellal shouldn't be any of her business, so why would she care if he ignored her? The redhead sighed. "Actually, I don't even think Jellal noticed me."
Lucy almost choked on her sushi. "What?" she asked, wondering if she heard her friend correctly.
Gray's bowtie pasta dropped from his fork. "He. . .ignored. . .YOU?!" he casually laughed. "Stop lying, Eru."
"But it's true!" the redhead insisted. "He greeted everyone in the room, but me! He just skipped me, as if I was invisible! I mean it!"
"Liar," Lucy said. "Before, you said nothing happened."
"I meant it literally!" Erza protested. "He didn't even look at me! I thought he would turn back, but no! You see, I sit in the front of the room, so I thought he would realize I was existent by the end of Potions, but I guess he didn't realize I was there!"
Lucy tried to find an answer. "Maybe he's too embarrassed to look at you. You're the Titania that's so well known throughout Magnolia! The most beautiful and smartest and amazing! If I was him, of course, I would get shy to talk to such a popular person like you!"
Gray scoffed, thinking about the newcomer. "I knew it! He's so suspicious! Psh, that creep's probably not gonna make friends with anybody. And also -" He didn't get a chance to finish.
"Lucy~!" a familiar voice called. The three on the table turned their heads to find the source of the sound. Sure enough, a pink-haired boy appeared, and he was walking in their direction. Natsu found it easy to find the three since it was where they were usually seated.
Lucy got up to throw away her tray, and waited until Natsu reached the area. "What's up?!" Lucy asked.
He blushed. "Nothing much," he answered.
"Aw, you disoriented boy went searching for his girlfriend," Gray teased, and the pink-haired boy stared daggers at him.
"You're just jealous that you don't have a girlfriend as pretty as mine. Oh wait, you don't have one," Natsu answered with a smirk.
Gray gritted his teeth. Fortunately, Lucy was able to stop Natsu from going on by kicking his shin. Natsu yelped, but he understood what the blonde meant. "You don't wanna discourage Gray's feelings!" the blonde quietly scolded. "Listen, just because you know Gray's feelings towards Erza does not mean you can take advantage of it!"
Erza sat quietly, wondering what the two were talking about. Probably their next date to some sort of romantic place. The thought of that made her cheeks flush. What am I thinking about?!
"Erza?" Gray asked. "What are you thinking about?" he said and laughed. "You're cheeks are getting all red." He stretched out his hand and had his thumb graze over her soft cheek. "You're so adorable when you're embarrassed," he chuckled.
Just his words made Erza blush even more. "T-thank you."
Gray chuckled and released his hand. But Erza thought that time was too short. She wanted him to hold her cheek like that forever. At the same time though, her heart sank when she wondered if Gray only thought of her as a friend. She sat there, wondering how long their friendship would last. Exactly how long would it be before their parents find out about each other's friendship? And their reactions?
To hell with our family companies! Erza thought. Her wondering ended when another person arrived at the table, which was unusual. Usually, it was Gray, Erza, Lucy, and occasionally Natsu.
"Um, excuse me," the person said.
The four at the table turned their eyes towards the person. Jellal Fernandes. The table started staring at him since they never expected his presence.
"Would you like something?" Gray asked, cautious of the blue-haired boy.
"I would like to speak to Titania," Jellal answered.
The weird thing, though, was that Jellal was not looking at Erza.
He was looking at Lucy.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! Wow. . .This first chapter was a lot a longer than I thought it would be: 4000 words! BTW, I love cliffhangers. . .Hahaha. Sorry if I bored you guys though.
Overall, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, even though it was a bit long. I'm sorry for any grammar, spelling, or inconsistencies in the chapter. I worked really hard for the story, so I hope you liked it. Still, I would love to accept any criticism for my writing, since I'm still rather new to fanfic writing, and I would like reader's perspectives, rather than mine. If there are any questions, I'll take them too. Since this is a plot outside of Fairy Tail's norm, I wanna know your understanding so far!