Disclaimer : The TV Show 'Friends' and all the characters inside it don't belong to me. This goes for the entire chapters.

Written in the Stars

Don't tell me you don't feel what I feel right now

Ooh, it's written all over you

Don't tell me you don't feel what I feel somehow

Ooh, I keep findin' my way back to you

You can go anywhere babe, wherever you want

Because I know we're written in the stars

You can go any which way, don't matter how far

Because I know we're written in the stars

Chapter 1

Summer, 1979

Fourth graders were stupid.

Rachel stormed out the cafeteria, her lunch bag squeezed tightly on her hands as she made her way toward the school yard – fuming with anger because the kids in her class were all stupid. Monica Geller – Rachel's bestest friend had been sick today, so Rachel had no choice but to sit with Amy Welsh, Samantha Collins, and Melissa Parker. Usually, the three of her classmates were nice, but sometimes they loved to talk about Monica behind her back and Rachel hated that.

Today was no exception.

It all started when Amy started talking about the upcoming summer break. She told them that her mommy had just bought a brand new swimming set and she couldn't wait to try it on. Soon enough, all of the girls started to talk about their summer plan, including Rachel who had informed her friends that she was planning to invite Monica over to the country club. Unlike her, Amy, Sam, and Melissa, Monica was fat. Rachel never saw it as a problem, let alone something embarrassing, but it turned out that her friends thought otherwise. One of them said something about not wanting to hang out with Monica in the country's club swimming pool. She said Monica couldn't hang out with them anymore because she was fat and it made Rachel burn with anger.

She yelled at the three girls, telling them that they should be ashamed of themselves for talking that way about Monica and without even waiting for their response, Rachel grabbed her untouched lunch and left the cafeteria.

Her friends were stupid. Just because Monica was fat, it didn't mean that she couldn't hang out with them. Monica was a really nice girl. They had met at kindergarten and had been inseparable ever since. She lived just down the street with her parents and her big brother, Ross Geller.

Speaking of Ross..

Rachel's head snapped up when he heard loud laughs from the back of the school's building. As curiosity got the better of her, she followed the source of the noise and when she had gotten near enough, she hid behind a wall – trying her best to find out what the commotion was about without getting caught.

"Give me your lunch!" A dark haired boy with a big body shoved a skinny kid against the wall and Rachel let out a gasp as she realized who the skinny boy was.

"Ross.." Rachel muttered softly, her heart pounding in her chest as she continued to hide behind the wall.

The boys who were picking on Ross were a bunch of sixth graders. They were all taller and definitely bigger than she and Ross were. The two of them stood no chance against the bullies.

"A snickerdoodle! Nice!" The boy grinned, taking out a piece of cookies and munching them eagerly while his other friend began to rummage through Ross' backpacks.

"Garbage!" He began to take out the inside of Ross' backpacks one by one, throwing them on the ground whilst Ross staring at them in fear and looking so hopeless. "Garbage, garbage, another garbage.. What the hell is this?" The boy frowned as he inspected the object in his hand. "You bring toys to school?"

"It's not a toy!" Ross gasped. "It's an action figure!"

"You bring a dinosaur toy to school, Geller?" The three boys began to laugh.

"Loser!"

"Freak!"

"No wonder why no one wants to be friends with you."

"Ha! Found it!" One of the bullies found what appeared to be some money from one of the bag's compartments and Rachel saw how Ross' eyes widened at the sight of it.

"That's not mine!" Ross gasped, his hands trying their best to snatch the money but the other boy was way taller than Ross was. Again, he stood no chance. "Please! It's the class' money.." Ross' voice cracked as he tried his best not to cry. "You can't take it! We've been saving the money to buy gifts for Mrs. Evans retirement, you can't take that!"

"Twenty bucks.." The other boy grinned. "Nice story there, Geller.. but we're going to take the money."

"You can't do that!" Ross gasped as he began to jump as high as he could but instead of taking the money back, he got grabbed by his collar.

"-and remember." The bigger boy shoved Ross against the wall once again before he snickered. "-if you tell anyone about this, you're dead."

"See you tomorrow dino freak!"

"Bye losers! Thanks for the lunch!"

"-and the money!"

The three sixth graders left, laughing as they walked back toward the school.

Rachel's heart sank as she watched Ross begin to gather his things, his eyes filled with tears. She came closer to where Ross was and she kneeled down to help him. As their gaze met for the first time that day, Ross' cheeks turned pink as he tried his best to wipe off the remnants of his tears.

"Rachel.." Ross breathed, feeling completely mortified. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Let me help you.." Rachel murmured softly, shoving his books into his bag one by one and when her hand landed on a small toy-like object Ross apparently insisted wasn't, Rachel's brows furrowed. "Why did you bring toys to school, Ross? You know it isn't allowed."

"It's not a toy." Ross sighed, taking the object of Rachel's hand and observed it carefully to find any damages. "Grandpa Geller gave it to me last Christmas. I keep it as my lucky charm and I bring it everywhere so I can be close with him."

Ross' grandfather had died just three months ago from a heart attack. Rachel remembered going to Monica's house after the funeral and at some point she found Ross sitting alone in the corner. At that time, Rachel didn't think much about it, but according to Monica, Ross was very close with their grandfather. It seemed like his death hit Ross pretty hard.

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry.." Rachel's face softened and she reached out to squeeze his hands, he smiled back thankfully.

"It's okay." Ross tried to smile.

"It's not okay." Rachel sighed. "I'm so sorry I didn't help, I should've said something.."

"Oh, it's okay." Ross shrugged as he began to stand up, Rachel followed suit. "I don't want them to bother you too."

"Are they doing this to you every day?"

"Almost every day since the beginning of the year." Ross sighed as he dusted his pants that were now covered with dirt. "The other kid they used to pick on just moved away and apparently I'm their new target."

"You should tell someone, Ross." Rachel chewed her lips as she looked closer to her best friend's brother. His clothes were dirty now and his curly hairs were sticking all over the place. "-maybe we can tell the teacher together.."

"No. It's only going to get worse then.." Ross sighed. "I'll be okay. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled and nodded. "I am."

"Okay then." Rachel sighed. She was just going to tell Monica after school. Maybe Monica knew what to do because she was really smart.

They stood there silently until Rachel heard Ross' stomach grumble. Rachel smiled at that.

"Do you want to share lunch with me?" She showed him her lunch bag. "I won't finish it anyway."

Ross glanced at her face and then toward her lunch bag. He wanted to look strong in front of her for some reason, but then his stomach grumbled once again. He smiled sheepishly as she giggled.

"Come on.. You can have half of my sandwich." Rachel grabbed Ross' hands and dragged him to sit under the big tree.

The two of them sat under the tree and spent the rest of the lunch time talking and laughing. Rachel never noticed it before, but it turned out Monica's older brother was quite interesting.

Summer, 1986

It was no secret that Ross Geller hated high school.

Summer break was just hours away and Ross couldn't help but keep glancing toward the giant clock in the wall of the cafetaria – willing them to go any faster. He sighed, poking his lunch with a fork unceremoniously as he darted his eyes around the crowded room. Lincoln High's cafeteria was divided into several sections and today the room was louder than it usually was, probably due to the excitement of the long awaited break.

Unlike the other tables, Ross' tables were the quietest of them all. The tables he and his friends were occupying belonged to what the other called the school's nerds. Math Club, Debate Club, Science Club – all of their members belonged in these tables. Ross looked around his table and found his best friend, Will Colbert was engrossed in a comic book he had borrowed from him earlier this week and Ross let out a sigh.

Ross glanced at the giant clock once again, he just wanted to escape from this hellish hole as soon as he could. He hated high school, he despised it profusely. High school was a living nightmare, the people were horrible, mean, and stupid.

Being a skinny boy with an afro made Ross an easy target for the bullies. He had spent years being shoved against the walls or the lockers, verbally abused, had his money and lunches stolen, and being locked in the janitor room or the man's toilet.

He had enough of it.

He couldn't wait until high school was finally over so that he could move out to the city and study paleontology like the way he had planned it for the last couple years. Ross was a star student. His grade was almost impeccable, except for P.E. Yeah.. he wasn't exactly the best when it came to sport. But other than that, his report cards were practically glowing. He had spent the last year making sure it stayed that way and preparing himself for university enrollment.

"Just another year.." Ross murmured softly.

One more year and he'd be free from this living hell to live on his dream as a college kid, studying what he loved most and hopefully enrolled in one of the country's top universities. His goal was to be accepted into NYU and Ross had been working really hard to achieve that dream. His teacher was convinced that he could make it as long as he kept up his good work.

A loud cheer caught his attention. He looked to his left and saw what the commotions were about.

The Jocks.

This year's football team captain, Chip Matthew was sitting on the table as he laughed along with his friends. It was no secret that Chip was the most famous boy in Lincoln High. Ross didn't know why but it seemed like all the girls in school were fawning over him like he was some sort of celebrity or something.

Ross snorted at that thought.

Chip was no more than a jerk who loved to seek attention. He was stupid and not that all handsome in Ross' opinions. He was really rude, especially to the teacher and the school's janitor. He acted like he was god and Ross hated him. There was literally nothing good about the guy except for his bike and the fact that he was the school's football team.

"Chip!"

Ross' heard a voice far too familiar to his ears and when he looked across the room, he saw her standing there – waving at the direction of Chip Matthew. Ross' heart started to do this weird jump the moment he saw her there wearing Lincoln High red and white cheerleader outfits, looking ridiculously breathtaking.

Rachel Green.

She was the cheer captain and unfortunately Chip's current girlfriend.

Ross had known her almost his entire life since the day his younger sister, Monica brought her home from preschool. Rachel's parents were always busy, so Rachel often spent time in his house, playing with his sister after school was done. Rachel was still hanging out at his house a lot, but not so much after she got busy joining the cheer team.

"Hey, baby!" Chip grinned, stepping off the table to greet his girlfriend with a kiss to her cheeks and Ross had to fight the urge not to vomit as he saw Chip's hand moving dangerously low and lower as he hugged her.

Ross tightened the grip on his fork and suddenly his appetite disappeared when he saw the couple whispering in each other's ears. Her giggle filled the room and Ross could only wish that one day he was going to be the one who made her laugh like that every day.

"Ross!" He heard his sister's voice as she walked toward him from the direction where Rachel was still standing with Chip.

Ross gulped. He and his sister weren't exactly getting along. He loved her, but she could be annoying sometimes. Monica was the cheer team's manager and Ross was pretty sure she got the role only because she was best friends with Rachel. Rachel held a big influence amongst the school's popular kids and no one dared to cross her. It also meant even though Ross knew the other kids liked to make fun of Monica's figure behind their back, none of them were brave enough to say something in front of Rachel's face.

"What?" Ross swallowed a lump in his throat as he darted his eyes toward his now fuming sister and to Rachel.

"You forgot your lunch again!" Monica groaned, shoving a brown paper bag in Ross' direction. "Mom wants me to bring it to you."

"Oh I already ate, but thanks." Ross murmured, peeking inside the brown bag and then frowned. "You ate my twinkies."

"That's a small price for bringing the lunch to you." Monica nodded and grinned. "I can't promise nothing else will be missing the next time you forget your lunch. Bye loser, enjoy your lunch!"

"Monica!" Ross groaned as his sister started to walk away from him.

Ross sighed and as he darted his eyes toward where Monica was walking, he saw Rachel was now looking at him with a smile on her face. Ross returned the smile gingerly as his cheeks turned crimson, feeling the butterflies dancing in his stomach as she noticed him.

Ross Geller was in love with Rachel Green and he had been since last year where they sat next to each other in typing class. They were used to being quite close during elementary school, especially after she saw him getting bullied on one particular day. Rachel even tagged along with The Gellers to a trip to Florida that summer where they all went to visit DisneyLand. But sadly, his relationship with Rachel somehow changed the moment she entered high school.

Rachel immediately gained popularity the very first day the school started. She joined the cheerleader team in her freshman year and her popularity only got stronger ever since. She still considered Monica her best friend and the two of them practically attached to the hips, but she rarely hung out with him anymore.

They drifted apart.

She still talked to him, mainly when she was around his house. She also occasionally flashed smiles at him when they passed along the school's hallway. But other than that, Ross couldn't exactly remember the last time they had spoken with each other for more than five sentences. He didn't really blame her though, because somehow after he found out he had a major crush toward her, he became really awkward around her.

It was like his brain shut down every time she was around and he became inarticulate. His heart would always beat out of control and he felt like an idiot most of the time. She was always so nice about it, just smiling at him and said nothing about how weird he had become. But that's what she always was. Despite her soaring popularity, Rachel Green had a good heart and that was what Ross loved the most about her.

Not a lot of people knew that side of her since for some reason, she tended to hide it really well. Maybe she didn't want people to think of her as weak or maybe it had to do with her popularity, Ross wasn't exactly sure, but she had acted differently since the moment she entered high school.

"Oh Chip!" Ross heard Rachel's giggle again as he saw her and Chip in the middle of a tickle fight. Ross felt sick to his stomach. "Stop it!"

Rachel deserved better than Chip Matthew.

Chip was no more than a jerk and she could do so much better than him. She deserved a guy who loved her for who she truly was. If the rumour was right, Chip wasn't even the most faithful guy in Lincoln High and Rachel deserved so much more.

"Oh, I can't wait 'till the day that I don't have to see her anymore." Ross heard his friend, Will groan beside him. "Queen Rachel, does whatever she wants in the Rachel-land. I hate her, Ross. I really hate her."

"Oh, okay.." Ross' furrowed his brow, wondering what Will's problem was with Rachel.

"She's like the worst!" Will groaned. "She thinks just because she's pretty, she's the ruler of the world! She can say anything she wants and she thinks she can get away with it!"

"What?"

"That's right! She thinks she's the center of the universe!"

"What is your problem with her?" Ross frowned.

"What is my problem with her? Seriously?" Will gasped, his eyes burned with anger. "She called me Humpty Dumpty!" Will groaned. "She sang the damn nursery rhymes every time she saw me! She's making my life miserable!"

Maybe it was because he always focused on her good side that Ross sometimes turned his eyes blind against the bad. She wasn't exactly a saint, he knew that. What Ross didn't realize was that apparently she called other people by names too. She made fun of Will's weight, but she stood by Monica's side anytime someone would try to insult her.

It didn't make any sense.

Why would she do that?

"I can't wait for high school to be over." Will sighed. "-god, I hate her so much."

Ross sighed, looking at his friend and offered him a smile before turning his whole attention back to Rachel. He looked at her laughing and joking around with her friends, Monica sat by her the entire time. Ross wondered how the sweet girl he grew up with somehow turned out to be one of the school's bullies. She didn't exactly become violent, but it still didn't justify what she was doing.

She was being mean.

And Ross found it hard to believe that the same girl who mocked his friend continuously was the same girl who shared her lunch with him a few years before. The same girl who had hugged him at the end of that day and offered him to eat lunch with her from that day so that the older kids wouldn't pick on him. He couldn't begin to comprehend what high school had turned her into. But despite all that, he believed that deep down the same sweet little girl was still inside of her. She was still the same Rachel Green, he just didn't know why she concealed her true self. He didn't know why she suddenly became mean.

A/N

There you go.. Ross and Rachel's high school/college story I promised with a lot of flashbacks to their childhood (I can't be the only one who's obsessed at the fact that Ross and Rachel practically grew up together).

I got all my 80s references from the internet since I wasn't even born at that time. I've never stepped foot in the US, I have no idea how America's high school system works except for what I had gathered from the movies I've watched and mainly, Google. So, I'll apologize in advance if there are any (future) mistakes. Feel free to correct me.

Anyway.. that was the first chapter, I hope you all like it. From what I gathered from the show, Rachel was mean in high school, but Ross fell in love with her because she had a good heart. So, I'm trying to come up with a background story to why she acted the way she was in high school. There would be more flashbacks to explain everything. Let me know what you think of the story so far! :)

Oh and, the song is called 'Written in the Stars' by John Legend and Wendy in case you're wondering.