I swear, I was only a little bit late.
Like, earlier than Lisanna, but later than Levy.
As in, six minutes to get to class.
And I was still in bed.
"Fuck!" I wailed, climbing out of bed and grabbing a pair of stretchy leggings (that even I had to admit, showed a little bit more of my ass than I was comfortable with) and a Holy Angels sweatshirt, while simultaneously brushing my tangled blue locks out with a plastic pink hairbrush.
Yup. Talented.
I rushed through my kitchen, grabbing miscellaneous food items and tossing them in my backpack.
"Dad! Drive me to school!" I screeched, running into him and smacking him with my bag.
"Your what hurts?" He mumbled incoherently as I ran into the car without waiting to hear his answer.
Three minutes.
"I thought you already left." He said groggily, the keys dangling shakily in his hand. Normally, I would've driven myself, but it's 'house protocol' that only dad can drive the van, and my mom took the car for work.
What's this? A completely functional family with no tragedies or mishaps on fanfiction?
Haha, that's correct. The only fault in my family's stars is my dad's flakiness and my mom's ditzyness.
"Wow. Thanks dad." I said dryly.
Oh shit.
Do you ever get that awful feeling that you totally forgot something?
I glanced at my backpack, chock full o' rice krispy treats and pop tarts, and all of my other random school supply garbage.
Everything appears to be in order…
"Dammit!"
My dad turned over to glare at me.
"Don't you fucking swear Juvia. It's morally wrong." He grumbled, surging forward as the traffic light flashed green.
Not recognizing the irony in his statement, I completely ignored him and swore up a small hurricane of curses.
All because, in this fan-fucking-fabulous greatastic day, I had forgotten my shoes.
"I'm the dumbest person alive! Holy shit, dad, just drive into that ditch! Bad genes, bad genes!" I cried, opening my window in an exaggerated attempt to throw myself out the car window like motherfucking Ladybird for my failures as a human being.
"Spaz. Get out. I hate you." My dad grunted. I smiled weakly, after all, I had just forgotten something of sole importance to my day.
Haha. Whoa. Pun unintended.
"The feeling's mutual old man." Were my final words as I slammed the car door shut, something in which I was very well aware was one of my dad's personal pet peeves.
One minute.
Shit! I'm so screwed…
Hallways flew by and everything just seemed hazy. What did I even have first hour?
God, dementia at seventeen. Talk about shit luck.
Ah, right. Government. Or political science, or whatever the fuck they like to call it. Didn't matter, it was all still stupid.
Ring!
So close…yet so far.
But government class wasn't too far, in fact, it was a few classes down. Erza was gonna be pissed. At least she won't be able to yell at me from across the room.
Just before entering, I took a quick gaze at myself. Hm…not too bad, I suppose, given the circumstances.
Ready…set…go!
I opened the door as humbly as I could, my eyes fixed upon…what the fuck?!
What the fuck!
Unintentionally, my eyes boggled out of their sockets and my body continued to move forward, but my legs did not.
…Prompting the upper half of my body to completely lose its balance and three seconds later I became one with the floor.
Because what the damn hell!?
And what an entrance made by me. Not only was I late, which was weird for me, but I also drew so much attention to myself that I think many students were realizing that I was indeed in this class.
No matter. Falling on my face in perhaps my most ungraceful entrance ever was no reason to give up this early in the day.
Especially when I had a certain someone to interrogate.
I got up and dusted off my skin tight leggings, subconsciously reminding myself to pull my sweatshirt down so it modestly covered my see through ass pants. I was pretty sure this particular pair of leggings got recalled by the company because they were so seethrough, but since my parents were such cheapskates, they figured that it would be a "waste" to throw away a "perfectly good pair of pants" even if they happen to showcase my lower extremities.
I moved to my spot in the back left corner, inconspicuous because honestly the teacher had much more impudent things to worry about. Namely Natsu, who was laughing at me.
As he laughed obnoxiously at my faults, I mentally murdered him and scooched into my spot.
And of course, turned to the side to chew the hell out of the guy next to me.
"Gajeel, what the hell?"
He tilted his head forward in a weirdly old person like greeting. "Jubilee."
Ah yes, the creep-assed nickname he had graced me with on the day we met. Of course, my naturally 'jubilated' spirit (this included swearing at him and condemning his soul to the depths of hell) earned me my pet name that never seemed to lose its catchiness over the years.
"That doesn't answer my question!" I whispered angrily. I don't even really remember my question, but that didn't settle my raging nerves.
What the fuck was he doing here? I mean, I know he said 'we'll see' but that didn't mean we'll see, that meant no! We had established this, yet he literally just broke almost four year's tradition!
"That…wasn't really a question. But to answer you anyway, I don't really know. Got bored, decided it'd be fun if I crept into your personal life." He said slyly, tapping his ratty pen against his desk rhythmically.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Gajeel knows…everything.
Gajeel knows every single fiber detail of my life, from the way Lucy talked all the way down to…
Gray…
I'm so fucking screwed. Is that window open? I might as well just chuck myself right out of it, because pretty much anything is better than this right now-
"You look sick." He commented flatly.
"I'm sick of you." I spat, not in the mood for his usual bullshit at seven in the morning.
"Walked right into that one. Why aren't you wearing shoes?" He asked. I felt myself moan at my lack of footwear and slam my head against the desk.
Mr. Taylor droned on about something in the current political atmosphere. I would've paid attention if my world hadn't been crumbling down in front of my like the world's saddest piñata.
"Tch. You were right, school sucks." Gajeel said, leaning back on his chair and almost snapping it in half.
I could've killed him. Just what the fuck was he playing at? I'd spent years using him as my therapist. Since he wasn't an actual therapist, he could violate HIPAA all the livelong fucking day. I was so beyond fucked it looped back around to virginity. Or something like that. I couldn't tell, I was off my comedy game. I wasn't wearing any shoes for fuck's sake!
My inner monologue took a brief recess when Mr. Taylor opened the class for independent group discussion about the topic he had been lecturing about. The topic I had no knowledge of. Perfect.
"I heard Gray asked you to the hockey game tonight."
Natsu's voice came out of nowhere. God, why was everybody and their mother all up in my grill? Was I asking too much by just wanting to die alone as an antisocial dog lady?
Also, how the fuck did he know that? Was Gray talking about me to his friends? Had I somehow entered the Twilight Zone overnight? Or perhaps purgatory?
I decided to respond to Natsu after an uncomfortable beat of silence. "Well…technically, yes, he asked me to come watch him." I corrected.
"So…are you gonna go?" Natsu interrogated. God, he's such a fangirl, I'm gonna mistake him for Lucy one day…
"Maybe." I said.
Yeah, I was definitely going.
"So you do like him?" Natsu asked.
"Where the hell'd ya get that idea?" I snapped, glaring at Gajeel subtly so that he'd keep his trap shut.
"Well you said maybe." Natsu said slowly, like he didn't exactly understand how he came to that conclusion either.
"Anybody who told you to be yourself couldn't have given you worse advice." I said sadly.
Natsu looked at me blankly and I couldn't help but pity him.
I took a glance at Erza from across the room, only to see that she had been trying to get my attention for a while now. She was viciously pointing to Gajeel and then making a shoulder shrugging motion.
Ah, she wants to know how I know him…
"Hey Juvia, you…you're not wearing any shoes." I heard Natsu say behind me.
"Well fuck my little dickhole, you're right." I exclaimed, looking down at my sock covered feet like it was just a small inconvenience in my day.
"Did…did you seriously not know that you're not wearing shoes?" Natsu asked. God damn, men were as dumb as investing all your money into fucking Blockbuster.
"Put a sock in it." I said, dropping my sarcastic innuendo and walking over to Erza because god knows I needed a dose of sanity in my life right now.
"What the hell is that?" Erza asked me the second I arrived.
"What the hell is what?" I retorted, unsure of her confusion.
"That." She reiterated, pointing to Gajeel, who was currently arguing with Natsu and some other kid. Ren, I think. Or Ben.
"Ah. You mean Gajeel." I said, not really sure how to answer her question.
"Mhmm. How the hell does he know you?" Erza asked. I forgot how scary she could be sometimes…
"Uh, he's in my homeroom." I said, hoping with all my heart that she'd drop it.
"How come he just showed up here for no reason? Is he even in this class?" Erza continued, to my dismay.
"Yes, he's in this class, he just…decided to show up today?" I squeaked, sounding so unsure of myself I knew Erza could see directly through me.
"How does that even work? Shouldn't he be a Junior if he never showed up? Shouldn't-"
Bring!
"Whoops, sorry, gotta go! Bye Erza!" I said hurriedly, grabbing my bag and rushing out of the room with remarkable speed.
Hahaha! Successful escape!
I was feeling pretty good about my narrow getaway until I remembered I was going to physics.
Fuck me backwards with a rusty spork.
"HEY JUVIA!"
HOLY SHIT
Levy jumped on my back and Lucy grabbed onto my arm, making it extremely hard to stay upright.
"What the hell guys! Get off!" I shook Lucy off of my arm and peeled a giggling Levy off of my back.
"So guess what? Yesterday Natsu asked Lucy if she wanted to be partners in French! It was so exciting!" Levy gushed, twirling some of her sky blue hair into a tiny knot.
"You're exaggerating Lev, he was just trying to be nice…" Lucy countered, but I could tell by the faint blush painted on the apples of her cheeks that Levy was completely right about Lucy liking him.
God fucking dammit.
"Oh, that's…" Great, fine, good, interesting, fabulous, cool-"…nice."
Levy and Lucy continuously giggled about whatever the hell they were giggling about until we got to the classroom.
I nearly had a stroke and a half when I saw Gray waiting for me at my desk.
Holy chocolate cupcakes does he look attractive.
I am most definitely having chest pains. Good Lord, why the hell is he wearing a hoodie? Why is it tight? Why does he have to wear jeans oh bloody hell…
"Ah, Juvia…looks like somebody's waiting for you…" Levy prodded, looking at Gray from a distance and whispering something in Lucy's ear, causing her to giggle.
God.
"Gray what are you doing…here." I said, emphasizing 'here' as my desk.
"Gonna ask you if you were comin'," he said with a stunning grin. Why the hell can't I smile like that?
I unconsciously tugged my sweatshirt down, it seemed to have ridden up generously, exposing my stupid ass covered by my stupid leggings. Thank God Gray didn't see, or I might as well have just thrown myself out the goddamn window.
"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure I can make it…" I said, dropping my bag next to my desk Gray jumped off of it.
"Cool. It's the last game of trials, if we win, we go to state." Gray said, trying to be modest but I could tell he was really excited.
"Mm. What time is it anyway?" I asked. I knew the game was at seven, but I just wanted an excuse to talk to Gray.
"Seven, but you should show up at least a half an hour early. It's gonna be full." He told me confidently.
"What makes you so sure?" I asked with one raised eyebrow. I liked to think that Gray was modest, but maybe not so much.
"Because I'll be playing." He said smartly. I pretended to laugh, like it was the funniest thing I'd heard in years.
"Hilarious. But I'm pretty sure they don't let benchwarmers play during prelims." I teased lamely. Was I flirting? What the fuck was wrong with me? Why did I suddenly incur large amounts of brain damage whenever he was near me?
"Awe, that was lame and you know it Juvia." He said, laughing good naturedly.
I had to admit, he was really growing on me.
But then again, so does cancer.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Levy and Lucy gossiping about my scandalous secret relationship with Gray. I swear, if one word comes out of either of their little mouths, I'm gonna-
"Please take your seats class, I have very important news!"
Oh no. This is gonna be bad.
Gray looked excited, and went back to sit in his seat. How the hell is it even possible for someone to be excited for physics?
Wait a second, is that Gajeel sitting next to him? How the hell-
"We're going to be doing a group project!"
God Dammit!
What the hell? Was it every teacher's fucking goal to piss me off?
"We will be working on this project for several weeks and it is a large portion of your final grade."
God damn you Mr. Baker I hope you and your disgusting fingernails-on-a-chalkboard voice go jump off a fucking bridge and get hit by a helicopter.
"I will be assigning the groups."
Well, there goes my last fucking chance of survival. I could've gotten a group with Levy but now I'm so screwed. At this point, if I got a D I'd be excited.
He started to list off names and once again, every. Fucking. Smart. Person. Got. Taken. Dammit.
Even fucking Gajeel lucked out and got Levy, asshole. I'd actually commit mass murder for his spot right now.
"Strauss, Drake, Fullbuster, Lockser."
Thank God. At least I knew Lisanna. She may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least I could tolerate her more than-
Wait a second, what?
Fullbuster!?
Ha, ha, ha…very funny life. I know you like screwing with me, but this is just bullshit.
"Juviaaaaa! Yay! We got in the same group! What do you think of the other members? Who do you think got the worst group? I'm so excited, what place should we do the experiment?" Lisanna fired question after question. I literally had no answer for any of them.
Gray walked over to my desk, where Lisanna had sort of gathered. Flashing me an irresistible smile, he pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.
Melting…I'm melting…
"Hey, who's the other member of the group?" Lisanna chirped. How many pixy stix did she even have this morning?
"Cobra." Gray said.
Shit.
Cobra is kind of like that one asshole, that one asshole that I just can't fucking stand because he's such an asshole like you just look at him and he has an asshole smile, and an asshole face just…
Kill me.
At least he decided to ditch today, I don't think I could take a day full of stupid Cobra and stupid no shoes…
"So what's this experiment again?" I asked, realizing that my trend of not caring today was going off the charts.
"We're testing solar intensity of certain areas. So, where do you guys want to do the actual testing?" Gray asked. Right, almost forgot he actually had intelligence.
"What about my backyard? There's grass there!" Lisanna pointed out.
"Same, no way!" I said, accidentally letting my sarcastic mouth off of its leash.
Gray stifled a laugh and Lisanna looked genuinely surprised.
"D'ya know what's weird, I've known you for like three years, but I've never actually seen your backyard." Lisanna said in all seriousness.
Right. I have this weird phobia of inviting people over to my house. Can't really explain it, it just freaks me out that someone who doesn't live in my house would like…be there.
"Mm. Yeah.I actually live under a bridge like a troll, so. Not ideal for party situations." I covered lamely. Lisanna had the decency to laugh and then went back to brainstorming.
"What about the hills? There'll be tons of sunlight there." Gray suggested.
The hills was a park that was a little less than a mile from the school, a popular camping getaway, absolutely beautiful with streams and hiking and waterfalls and shit. It was actually a pretty good idea.
"That's…actually a good idea." I voiced, sounding a lot more surprised than I had intended.
"Thanks for that stellar vote of confidence, Juvia." Gray said wryly, and I shot him a playful glare.
Dammit, his stupid flirting is contagious.
Lisanna looked at me. Then at Gray. Then back at me.
Fuck.
"Whoa, wait…do you guys, like…know each other?" Lisanna asked suspiciously, taking note of our obvious closeness to one another.
Gray said 'yes' at the same time I said 'no'.
"Ouch Juvia, I thought we were friends." Gray said with false hurt, clutching his heart like I had stabbed it.
"I'm totally missing something. What is this?" Lisanna asked, with 'this' gesturing to Gray and I acting like idiots.
"It's mutual friendship Miss Strauss." Gray lectured. Honestly, he was such a dork sometimes.
What a cutie.
"Huh? How long have you guys even been friends?" Lisanna interrogated, still completely baffled by our seemingly tight bond.
"Like a day." I said flatly.
"Like three days." Gray corrected.
"Three days?" Lisanna repeated in disbelief.
"Yup. So, the hills? This weekend?" I confirmed, glancing to see that there were only a few minutes remaining of class.
"Sure. Anything to get out of practice." Gray said with a grimace, probably remembering that asshole guy Lyon who made it his personal goal to interrupt any time that I spent with Gray.
"Cool. Tell Cobra too, you're friends with him, right?" Lisanna asked. Gray nodded and Lisanna went back to grab her things for the next class.
"How the hell can you be friends with that guy?" I heard myself ask, a bit rudely.
"Eh…it ain't too hard, if you look past his…dickish demeanor." He explained.
"Right," I said, standing up and dusting off my leggings before I grabbed my bag in preparation to get the hell out of physics.
"Hey, whoa. No shoes today? Is this normal, or something?" Gray asked, with an amused smile. Haha, glad I amused you, beautiful man.
"Fuck you, don't judge me. I am running on three hours of sleep and my pure hatred of the universe." I established, kicking my feet up and trailing towards the door in anticipation.
"Hey, don't get sassy. And if it means anything to you, it's too bad you didn't forget something different." He said suggestively, winking at me just as the bell rang.
Holy mother of god.
As people brushed past me I looked down quickly to where Gray had been previously standing, only to see the most awful sight anybody could ever imagine on hell and earth.
My sweatshirt, which must've hitched up when I got out of my chair, had hiked up a little bit up to my lower back and to my utter horror my ass was practically hanging out and my underwear lines were bright and vibrant, like the happy little goddamn asshole bitch fuck faced underwear lines that they were! Fuck me, fuck me twice into a different continent where it's illegal to swear god dammit!
And if it means anything to you, it's too bad you didn't forget something different.
Was he referring to…my fucking underwear…
I wanted to scream. And cry. And murder six people. And eat an entire tray of chocolate chip cookies.
Who knew perfect Gray with perfect hair and a perfect personality and probably a perfect GPA had a pervy side and he took it out on me, probably the only girl in the entire world who would physically die just from looking into his eyes.
K.O.
Ah…I don't think I can go on…
Erza was waiting for me expectantly in front of Calc., probably still worried about me from first hour.
Luckily, I doubted Gajeel was smart enough to make it into calculus, so I was most likely safe.
"Hey." She said, tilting her head to the side so that her long red hair fell off her shoulders gracefully.
Dammit. Why can't I have Erza's pretty hair?
"Hey. Did you do the homework, because I-"
"Didn't. I'll do it tonight after gymnastics." Erza said. It was nice to have someone who was almost identical to yourself. Her insane dedication to gymnastic was probably the only thing that truly set us apart, my passion for swimming was strong, but it can't even be compared to Erza and her vault routine.
"Which will be, what…eleven o'clock?" I asked teasingly. She rolled her eyes and pushed open the door to Calc, seemingly sealing us into a time resistant environment where time literally passed by so slowly I could fly to Europe, compete on the Tour De France, lose, cry, spend six months in rehab trying to recover from severe depression, and then come back just in time to get the assignment.
Great.
"Hey, so…that guy, in government? You guys are like…good friends?" Erza asked confusedly.
Right, back to this.
"Eh…sorta." I mumbled as we took our seats.
Math is generally pretty easy for me, I mean, calculus is damn hard, but like, after a day or two, I get the hang of it pretty quickly.
That still doesn't stop the time from pulling its own weight for forty eight fucking minutes, good lord did that class kill me.
When the class finally finished up, I stumbled out like a blind drunk man.
Because math is like someone impaling you in the eye sockets with rusty nails.
I swiftly avoided Erza, for reasons unknown, I guess. I just really didn't want to explain my relationship to Gajeel to her.
Of course. My extra health course next, with Wendy, and Gray.
Hopefully he'd keep his distance; I really can't afford any more nosebleeds from his intense attractiveness.
It was like he actually radiated beauty; maybe someday he'll just spontaneously combust and kill everyone on earth in the process from his godly fucking looks.
I hate myself.
Ew…the lecture room smelt like formaldehyde…
Oh no…
Please no…
Ah shit.
Just as I had suspected, lined up across the front table of the extended room was a bunch of sealed up plastic baggies with gruesome looking bundles of flesh inside.
This day literally could not get any more fantastic.
"Hey Juvia," Wendy greeted timidly. She's really short. She barely came up to my shoulder. She seemed a lot taller in those scoliosis-bound chairs.
"Please tell me we're not-"
"Dissecting cats. I know, it's awful." Wendy said, her bottom lip just barely trembling.
"Wait, a cat? Isn't that like, illegal?" I asked, horrified because Lucy had a kitten named peanut and honestly at that time poor peanut laying on an examination table was all I could think about.
"They're donated from the humane society. If they don't get adopted, then…" She trailed off, implying that the cats' untimely demise had something to do with the fact that nobody could take care of them.
"That's so sad," I said, my voice cracking in both sadness and disgust, because the cats were all shaved and…deflated.
This is what I get for diving ass-first into the medical field.
"What do you think Juvia?" Gray asked from behind me, scaring me half to death because nobody in their right mind stands directly behind someone while they are clearly in the middle of a cat-dissecting life crisis.
"Jesus, Gray." I breathed out, scrunching up my sweatshirt in the area where my heart had been electrocuted.
"You look sick. You a cat person then?" He inferred, my face probably paler than the moon. (which really wasn't that big of an accomplishment, I was already white as shit.)
I tugged my sweatshirt down, not wanting an instant replay of 'Gray is secretly a peeper' and my brain hemorrhage just from the thought of that being true.
"Well, yeah. I mean, nobody wants to poke a dead cat." I said, swallowing down my stomach that had decided to take a left turn at the esophagus and just kind of get the hell outta dodge.
"That's arguable. But yeah, it ain't gonna be pleasant, that's for sure." Gray said, his nose wrinkled just barely, so that he looked like a kitten in the cold.
It literally took every ounce of my strength not to scream and pinch his adorable cheeks.
"Mhm. I want to be a nurse, not a veterinarian." I said. Oops, didn't mean to let that slip.
"You want to be a nurse?" He asked, genuinely surprised. I guess I just don't come off as the kind of person who would comfort dying people.
"Well, a pediatric nurse." I corrected. Dammit, dammit, stop telling him shit about yourself Juvia! You idiot!
"You? With kids?" He asked, even more shocked than before. Wow. Wait to conceal that disbelief buddy.
"Yeah. You got a problem?" I defended, a little bit sick of people judging me. Just because I was a bitch to everyone didn't mean I'd be bitchy to kids.
"No, no. Good for you." He said, his face still twisted into a sort of wonderfully odd incredulous mixture, I swear, it was impossible to read him.
"…What about you? Did you just take this course for college creds?" I asked. I was taking this class for both reasons, experience so that I could get into the Holy Angels nursing school I liked, and in smaller colleges like Holy Angels, they actually accepted extra classes like this one for credit.
"Uh…it's complicated." He said, stressing that this was not a topic he usually talked about.
"Complicated how?" I pried. Leave it to me to step my naked foot where it's not wanted.
His face contorted into a calculating face; he definitely wasn't sure if he wanted to tell me or not. I tried my best to look open about it; he tried his best not to judge me so it was only fair that I returned the favor.
"Well…my family really wants me to go to the U. It's great and all…but I really don't think it's for me." He said slowly.
I processed the information just as slowly as he fed it to me. I was lucky enough that my parents were thrilled with my choice, Holy Angels having great credentials and such. Of course, in comparison to Magnolia University it flickered, but that was also because the campus itself was three times as big. Not to mention its sports programs were stellar, its classes in general were top notch, and it just kept getting harder and harder to get into.
There was no doubt in my mind that Gray had been offered some form of a scholarship there, for his hockey leanings. But having a family who pressured you into doing what they thought was best for you had to be hell, especially if you were positive that it wasn't what you wanted to do with yourself.
"I'm…sorry. That's gotta be hard, but just make sure you stand for something." I said, somewhat philosophically.
"Stand for something?" He asked, unsure of my wording.
"Yeah. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." I said simply as the professor ordered us to take our seats. I split away from Gray expeditiously, not waiting for his reaction to my statement, but I could tell by the way he lingered there for a few seconds that it had stuck to his mind.
I had only been sitting while listening to directions for a few minutes when I felt it. You know, that ominous feeling that someone's watching you?
I flipped my hair back curtly, providing me a short, quick look behind me.
I guess what I'd said had made an impact on Gray, because he had been staring holes through my back.
And there was no way I could ignore the inconsistent beat of my heart at the thought that maybe, just maybe Gray liked me a teensy bit. A 0.00001% chance, but a chance, nonetheless.
Oh, what do I know? Maybe his compass points the other way, but until I found out, my life was most certainly going to be a billion times more hellish than I could've ever imagined.
It was a joke to think that I only had three months left. Gray Fullbuster was going to make those final three months seem more like a lifetime.