Hey, guys! Fair warning to all people who don't have anything against Lisanna like I do, (I really hate her for no particular reason): I sort of made her into a horrible person. Sorry! I sort of figured that it'd be ok in this story because it's, in fact, a NALU STORY! Yay! Go NaLu! Ok, now that that's out of the way, onto the next thing! Due to the many requests for me to continue this story...whelp, I did. :) Yay! Ok, now read on!

~Lucy~

Class was almost over and I was seriously starting to sweat. Mr. Dreyar had asked me to meet with him after class...along with that guy. I glanced at him covertly. His head was slumped against his chest and a textbook was strategically positioned in front of him so that his slumber wouldn't be interrupted by Mr. Dreyar's usual routine, (by 'routine' I mean whapping the sleeping student's head with a heavy textbook to wake them up). I had to admit that it was a clever strategy, but it didn't make him any less annoying. I just wanted to raise my hand and rat him out, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the girls in class would hunt me down outside of the classroom and skewer me in a variety of painful ways. I didn't even want to think about that.

I really had no idea how all the girls managed to instantaneously fall in love with him just because of his appearance. I couldn't understand that. Sure, I had to admit that he didn't look bad. Actually, he looked pretty good. Just glancing at him, his annoying head hiding behind the algebra textbook, I could tell why the girls liked him. Still, that didn't mean they had to love him. My father had told me, however, that a person's appearance has a large influence on how other people see them. That's the only reason I really paid attention to my own appearance: because my father thought it necessary.

"Miss Heartfilia," asked an expectant voice. I looked up to see Mr. Dreyar leaning on my desk.

I blinked and, when realization sunk in, my heart started to race. He'd just asked me a question...and I had no idea what it was. I glanced up at him nervously and summoned my courage, "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?" There was a dead silence that followed my words, but I swear I heard a gasp. An actual gasp. What? Had I never not known the answer to a question? This day was seriously not going my way.

"I'd like you to go up to the board and solve the question I've written there, please," said Mr. Dreyar. He was looking at me suspiciously, but he also seemed a bit concerned. I looked at the board and realized something dreadful: I hadn't a clue how to solve the algebra problem. I clenched my hands into fists. This was bad. I was about to give up, to admit my defeat, when Gray spoke up.

"Mr. Dreyar, Lucy said that she wasn't feeling too well this morning, but she was still determined to go to school. I think it might be a good idea to let her go to the nurse's for a while," Gray said. I could tell that he was rushing his words in a desperate attempt to save me. He knew just as well as I did what my dad would say to me if he found out about this...about me slacking for an entire class.

Mr. Dreyar immediately backed off and nodded, "Of course. I'm sorry to pressure you. Go rest a bit." I let out a sigh of relief and released my clenched fists. The benefits of a spotless record include having your teachers trust you more than other students.

"I'll take her!" said an enthusiastic voice. I gulped and turned to see Natsu with his hand stretched high in the air. He grinned at me and I glared at him, biting my lip. Please no, Mr. Dreyar! Say no!

"I think it would be better for Mr. Fullbuster to go since you're new to the class. You need to stay here until the end. Be back quickly, please," said Mr. Dreyar, returning to the front of the class. I stood up and pushed my chair back in. Honestly, at this point, I was feeling a little queasy. Gray stood up and gently put a hand on my back; he smiled and led me outside. I caught sight of Natsu, who was looking particularly put out as I passed him.

I leaned against the wall as soon as we got outside, "I think I just died a little on the inside."

Gray stood next to me and nodded, "That was a seriously horrible class, huh?"

I took a deep breath, "I don't really remember a lot of it. I think all that algebra went in one ear and out the other."

"Any particular reason why?" he asked. I looked at him, momentarily puzzled by his question. Wait, why had I not paid as much attention this class? What had I even been doing that entire time?

"I'm not sure."

His brow furrowed, "Are you alright? You're not actually sick, are you?" He put a hand to my forehead, but I slapped it away.

"I'm not sick," I said, confident that I was telling the truth. I didn't feel sick...just a bit sleepy.

Gray slowly nodded and started walking down the hallway, "Come on. We should at least go to the nurse's. I don't want to become a complete liar."

I smiled and jogged to catch up with him, "Ok, but you did lie; I'm not saying I'm not grateful, though."

"That was a really pathetic thank you," he pointed out, nudging my arm with his elbow. I nudged him back.

"Thank you for helping me," I said.

He nodded like it was no big deal, but he'd seriously saved my butt back there, "But really...why couldn't you answer that?"

I sighed, "Just drop it, please? I'm really not in the mood for trying to explain myself. If my dad catches wind of this, I'll have more than enough explaining to do...enough to last me an entire year."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I lied for you," he said as we turned the corner. We were almost to the infirmary now, so I stopped walking; I wanted to talk with Gray a little longer. He stopped and raised an eyebrow, "What's up?"

I hugged myself and looked up at him, tapping the toe of my shoe against the floor, "You should try not to talk to that guy."

Gray let out a tiny chuckle, "Why's that?"

"He's bad news; a total player. He's not really friend material," I said nervously. I wasn't quite sure why I was nervous, though.

"You don't want me to talk to him because you don't like him? What are you trying to do? Protect me from him?" he asked, looking amused. As usual, Gray knew exactly what I was thinking.

I stopped tapping my foot immediately and gaped at him, "I never sai-"

Gray folded his arms behind his head, "Well, I wasn't going to talk to him anyway, but I'm happy."

I was pretty stunned, "Why are you happy? Wouldn't most guys take that as an insult?"

He just smiled and opened the door to the infirmary, "I'm not most guys, am I?" I stared up at him for a moment; well, one thing was for sure...he was definitely not 'most guys.'

"Um, excuse me," interrupted a small voice. I turned to see a girl standing on the other side of the entrance to the nurse's office. I recognized her immediately: Juvia Lockser. I'd talked with her a few times, not really about anything significant. It was the usual 'do you remember what we have assigned for this class' or 'what time is it' discussions. I didn't really know her that well.

"Hi, Juvia," I said cheerfully, (maybe a little too cheerfully for someone who was about to take a nap in the infirmary).

Juvia nodded awkwardly, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but can I get through?"

I hesitated a moment before I realized that Gray and I were blocking the entire door. Oh no, how long had she been standing there listening to us? I immediately shot out of her way so that she could pass. She paused in front of us and nodded to Gray. "Hi, Gray," she said. I couldn't help but notice that her voice was a bit smaller when talking to him than it had been with me. She immediately went down the hallway and disappeared the same way she'd come.

"That was weird," he said, staring in the direction she'd gone.

I nodded, "She's a freshman."

"Really? Have I met her before?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, you don't remember?"

"She must've not left much of an impression," he said. He then looked back to me and shoved me into the infirmary, "Sleep well, sick girl. I'll come see you later...that is, if you're feeling up to the next period. Just tell her you have 'lady pains.'"

I let out a fake laugh, "You suck, Gray."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," he said. He took off laughing down the hallway. Jerk, I thought as I headed into the infirmary. Mrs. Porlyusica was sitting at her desk, scratching at some papers with her expensive-looking pen.

"Um, hello?" I said. I could practically hear my voice echoing in there. I'd always disliked the nurse's. The disinfectant smell reminded me of the days I spent in the hospital when my mom was sick. Still, if it meant not jeapordizing my grades, I could tough it out no problem.

Mrs. Porlyusica swiveled around in her chair to look at me. She tipped her nose down and peered at me over her glasses, which were precariously perched at the end of her nose. She pushed them up with her middle finger after looking at me for a moment and said, "You don't have a fever and you don't seem nauseous. Why are you here?" I stared at her before she crossed her arms and started to look annoyed. I spoke immediately.

"You can tell all that by looking at me?" I asked.

She waited and then sighed, "Your point?" Wow. For a school nurse, she really wasn't a nice lady.

"Um, no point. I've got cramps," I said quickly. God, I could practically see Gray cracking up right now. I really wish I hadn't used his excuse, but after being put on the spot, I couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Right," she said a bit skeptically and gestured to the bed, "Lay down there. You'll have to go once the bell rings, though." I immediately headed towards the bed. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until my head hit the pillow. Man, it felt great. I let all of the muscles I hadn't realized were tensed relax and shut my eyes. For a brief, heavenly moment, I forgot all my troubles.

~Natsu~

This class was boring. In fact, it was so boring that I repetitively wrote that word in my notebook. My hand was practically falling off at that point. I'd filled up three pages with the word 'boring' over and over again...and my handwriting isn't even that big. I'd only started after that queen bee left, and I'd still managed to write this much. Boring.

"Mr. Dragneel, would you care to answer this question?" asked the balding teacher-guy. I looked up from my mild entertainment to see the algebra question on the board. It was an easy one. I could remember a question that was almost exactly like this one and how to solve it. I stood up and walked up to the white board. I grinned as an idea popped into my head. Grades had never been my priority. What was my priority? Fun.

I scrawled 'BORING' in huge letters on the board and plopped back down at my desk. I chewed on the eraser of my pencil and smiled as the teacher's face lit up bright red. "Mr, Dragneel!" he shouted, "Detention! It's about time that someone taught you a lesson!"

Yeah, right...like I'd never been in detention before. This wasn't the first time a new teacher at a new school thought they could 'teach me a lesson.' It was getting repetitive at this point. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered with...everything. I nodded, "Yes, Sir." Detention again. Whatever.

Class ended a little while after that, (finally!), and I found myself wondering where the princess went. Out of all the girls in the class, she was the only one who didn't look away when I stared at them. On top of that, she turned me down. I can't really remember the last time that happened to me...or if that's ever happened to me. She was nothing but interesting so far, not to mention she was hot. I mean, really hot.

I stepped out of the classroom and was immediately surrounded by a flurry of gossip. I could hear them talking; they weren't even bothering to keep quiet. He has no right to say something like that. Who does he think he is? I don't care about that, I think he's smoking! I grinned at that one. I followed the source of the gossip and found a cute girl. She had short hair and a nice body; she was no Lucy Heartfilia, but she was something to tide me over. I started walking towards her, but was interrupted halfway there.

"Hey, man. Some show you put on up there," said the guy who stepped in front of me.

"Uh," I said, more than a little surprised that this guy was talking to me. Most of the time, guys tended to steer clear of me. I didn't blame them, either.

"Name's Happy," he said, sticking his hand out. I didn't take it. It awkwardly dropped to his side and I felt a little bad.

"Happy?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, Happy. It's a nickname, though. My real name's a secret," he said, nodding.

"Why do they call you Happy?" I asked, looking past his shoulder at the girl behind him.

"You know, I don't really know. Ask someone else. They might be able to tell you," he said, stroking his chin as he pondered the origin of his weird nickname. "So I wanted to ask you, did you dye your hair like that?"

I stared at him, "Seriously?" This guy had to be some sort of stupid to not know I'd dyed it.

"Yeah," he said, "I mean, it's awesome."

I noticed for the first time as he complimented me that he himself had a streak of blue in his otherwise dark black hair. I smirked, "Thanks. I guess you know my name by now."

"Yeah, it's pretty much already spread through the whole school," he said.

"Well, fair warning, buddy: if you hang around me you won't make any friends," I said. It was the honest truth, not that I cared about this guy's social prowess.

"That's alright. I don't really have any friends anyway," he said happily. Man, this guy was weird. Why was he so happy when he didn't have any friends? Well, maybe I knew why they called him Happy now.

"Alright, whatever. Mind telling me that girl's name?" I asked, pointing to the cute girl I had my eye on.

"That's Lisanna Strauss. She's in class 2-B. I'm pretty sure she's gone through three boyfriends in the past month, but that's just a rumour. She doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation," Happy said.

I patted his arm, "Thanks. I'll see you around, then." It was weird talking to a guy like we were friends. Who knows? Maybe we could end up actually being just that: friends. I glanced back at the guy, but he was already gone. His semi-scrawny figure was no where in sight, nor was his blue streak. Yeah, definitely weird.

I ran my fingers through my hair and turned to see this Lisanna. I walked towards her and leaned against the wall next to her. Her eyes went wide for a moment before she narrowed them, "What are you doing?"

"Standing," I replied.

"Why are you doing it so close to me?" she asked. She sounded sassy, but I could see the spark in her eyes that told me my proximity was starting to affect her. She was clearly into me already...not that it was surprising or anything.

"Good question. How about you-" I began, but the words died in my mouth when I glanced past her shoulder. The Princess, Lucy, was staring at me, looking really annoyed. She rolled her eyes and strutted past me, flicking her hair over her shoulder. I watched her as she shot me a sideways glance and headed into the classroom, slamming the door behind her. The entire hallway was completely quiet. Well, that was surprising. I turned away from Lisanna immediately and reached for the door.

"Hey!" Lisanna protested. She grabbed my arm and pulled. I sighed and looked back to her.

"I really hate clingy girls, ok?" I said, tired of her already. I honestly just wanted to get back into that classroom, and denying a potential hook-up was worth it at that moment. It didn't even occur to me that I might regret it later.

"What?" she asked as I shrugged her off and slid the door open. Apparently, she'd never been shut down before. I stepped inside and shut it, tons of surprised faces disappearing behind the sliding door.

"How nice of you to join us," said a stern voice. I tensed and slowly turned around. Both Lucy and Mr. Dreyar were glaring at me. I was a little more worried about Lucy's angry stare than Mr. Dreyar's, though. She looked like she was about to pick up one of the desks and hurl it at me. She was actually pretty intimidating for such a small, harmless-looking person. I bet the only thing holding her back was the possibility that she might break a nail if she chucked the desk at my face. I smiled at her.

"Wow, what a welcoming atmosphere," I said, sending a wink her way.

"Be quiet, jerk," she grumbled, turning up her nose.

"Hey, where's your little underling?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"What's his name? That guy who's 'not your boyfriend.'"

"Gray is not my underling! He's my best friend! Jeez, has anyone ever taught you any manners?" she demanded.

"Not really, no," I said. She fell silent and narrowed her eyes, trying to understand the meaning of what I just said.

"Please stop arguing now. Are you feeling better, Ms. Heartfilia?" Mr. Dreyar asked. I sighed and crossed my arms.

"Yes, thank you. It really wasn't much," she replied. She really was a lot nicer when she wasn't talking to me.

"Well, it was enough to throw you off your game in my class, and that's enough to worry me. You are my star student, after all," he said.

"Of course," she said with a cute smile. I had a growing suspicion that this sweet girl attitude was all a farce.

"I'm glad to hear you're alright. Now, onto business," Mr. Dreyar said. Business? What business? "I believe you remember me asking you two to see me after class? Well, I've something to tell you two." He paused for a moment.

"What is it, Mr. Dreyar?" Lucy asked curiously. I honestly didn't care enough to ask him what the heck he was blabbing about.

"I'll just come out with it: Lucy, you've been chosen to tutor Natsu," he said. I blinked and then smirked, immediately switching my attention back to the conversation. I turned to her. She was pale and her mouth was wide open.

"I-I really don't think that's-" she began.

"There's nothing I can do. I know you've got your hands full already, but you're our top student. You were the best choice," he said, raising his hands in defense.

Lucy groaned. "Wow, real nice," I quipped.

"I'll be nice to you when you deserve it," she snapped. Ouch. She was really pissed at me. It didn't really bother me, though. I was satisfied enough having her as my tutor. This was going to be fun.

"Not starting today, though, because someone got himself a detention," Mr. Dreyar said. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It's weird. I was actually regretting that now.

"How long do I have to do this?" Lucy asked.

"Not long. I'll fill you in on more information later," he replied, "But I just wanted to give you a fair warning."

She nodded solemnly, "Alright. May I go now?" Mr. Dreyar nodded and Lucy didn't even look my way as she dragged her feet out of the room. I smiled as her blond hair disappeared behind the door. I turned back to Mr. Dreyar.

He frowned and fiddled with his mustache. For some reason I felt really good, so all I said was, "So, how about my detention, then?"

I'm pretty sure things are going pretty well with this story, (surprisingly), so I'll definitely continue it! I still want to get your reviews though...like always. Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! :)