Chapter 2:

First day in the new school! Lucy couldn't keep in her excitement as she approached stepped through the school gates and saw the huge building rising up in front of her. She grinned as she tried to refrain herself from jumping and cheering, succeeding enough to reduce the action down to a foot-hopping fidget. This is going to be great! She'd already received her timetable and a map of the school in the mail. Now she just had to find her homeroom. She looked around as she sought out her class. There! She was a tad early, but that was better than being late. She took a step through the door… and slipped in a puddle of water, falling on her bottom. "Ow…." She groaned, as she heard a couple of people laugh. Worst first day, ever. Lucy climbed to her feet before a flash of pink caused her to freeze. Natsu.

Lucy's pink-haired saviour from the day before was butting heads with a blacked haired boy, who was, for some reason, shirtless. She realised distractedly that this second boy's hair was wet, meaning he must have been the victim of a water-based prank, which has then led to the puddle Lucy had slipped on. But why was he arguing with Natsu? He was too kind to be a prankster, right? She couldn't tell from the actual words of the boys since apparently at this point they had deteriorated into swapping the simple insults of 'slanty eyes' (aimed at Natsu) and 'droopy eyes' (Natsu's response). She decided she didn't want to draw attention to herself by getting in the middle of a fight, so she sat in an empty seat close to the door. No-one was paying attention to her anymore, and she was fine with that.

As they waited for the homeroom teacher, Lucy watched as another girl approached the two boys, who were starting to grab at each other by now. She was beautiful. She had long, nearly white hair, and was wearing her skirt longer than usual. When she spoke, her voice sounded like a nightingale, and her tone was loving and sweet.

"Grey, your shirt. If Erza catches you without a shirt again, she'll get angry. And Natsu, if Erza finds out you're causing trouble with your pranks, she'll find a way to make your life miserable. Now, stop fighting, she'll be here soon."

Lucy watched as the boys sulked, but separated, and went to sit at their desks. Next to each other. Then leant towards each other to chat about something. Lucy shook her head. It was hard to believe that they were actually friends after the arguing she'd just witnessed. She looked around to see what other kind of people were in the class. Let's see… The white haired beauty (apparently her name was Mira), was seated next to a large, muscular, jock-looking guy, also with white hair. I wonder if they're siblings. There was a boy and girl who looked like they'd taken a modern twist on the cowboy style, and a couple more guys hanging around them. A blue-haired girl with glasses, seated in front of them, had her head buried in a book. That's more my kind of person. Until she was approached by another girl with short, straight, lavender hair. What is it with these people and hair colours? A long haired girl, with one too many shirt buttons undone and backed up by a group of boys, seemed to be facing off against a copper-haired boy, who was surrounded by girls. Overall, Lucy counted about 25 students in the room. Wow, small class.

The whole class suddenly went silent as the door slammed open and a student marched into the room. She was terrifying. Forget the scarlet-red hair that shone like fire her entire presence was intimidating. She stood tall, walked to the centre-front of the room, and turned to glare at the class. This must be the famed Erza, the threat of whom had just been used against Natsu and Grey. Lucy was pleased to find she was learning names fast.

"Cana, do that shirt button up." She started barking orders. "Loke, your fan club can sit in their set seats. Levy; put the book down for the moment. Natsu, Grey, have you been getting along?"

Both boys jumped, immediately sitting upright. "Yes ma'am!" They chorused.

"Good to see. Now, everyone stand for the teacher's arrival."

Everyone scrambled to stand as the teacher arrived, and Lucy lost sight of Natsu on the other side of the room. She turned her attention to the front.

He was a middle-aged man with black, slicked back hair and a sleazy-looking grin, but his eyes were kind as he scanned the room.

"Good morning, Mr. Conbalt."

"Yeah, yeah. Sit down, kids. I'll let the announcements be passed around so you don't have to get bored hearing my voice. Oh! And we've got a new student starting today. Ah, Lucy, is it? Want to stand up and introduce yourself?"

Lucy nodded before nervously standing and facing the class. Her eyes first scanned for Natsu. Surely he'd recognise her. There he was! By the window… Asleep. You've got to be kidding me. She let out a small sigh before clearing her throat.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Lucy. I only arrived in Magnolia yesterday. I like reading and writing mostly." She sat back down quickly. She wasn't a shy person, as a general rule, but she was still trying to figure this school out. Reconnaissance was her best weapon this early on. However, she had caught the eye of the other resident book lover (it was Levy, wasn't it?) and they had exchanged smiles. Good, she might make a friend sooner than she'd expected.

Before much longer, the bell rang, signalling the end of class. Lucy looked up from gathering her things to find the scary red-head standing in front of her.

"Good morning, Lucy. I am Erza, the class president. Welcome to the school. Feel free to approach me if you have any issues." She nodded to herself, as if satisfied with this welcome, before walking off again.

Lucy joined the mass of students heading out the door, but kept an ear out as she heard some familiar voices. It seemed Natsu had woken up.

"Yo, Macao!"

"'Sup, Natsu?" Wait, was that the teacher? Why was Natsu addressing the teacher by his first name?

"How's Romeo doin'?"

"He's going well. Getting back on track. Though, I might need you to watch him again on the weekend."

"Ha! I thought you said Natsu was a bad influence" It seemed Grey had joined in.

"Eh? What'd you say block-head?"

"You heard me, hot-head!"

"He is. But his sister is a good influence, so it balances out."

"Wait, what!?" Apparently now Natsu was offended.

"Just as long as he doesn't end up like you, right?" Grey sounded smug and she heard Natsu snicker, but Lucy couldn't believe what a blatant insult to the teacher that was.

"Oi, watch it, brats. I have the power here."

"Oh yeah, wanna go, Macao?" And Natsu is trying to fight him…

"Ha! Why throw down when I could just give you detentions? Now get out of my class or you'll be late for your next one." How hadn't this teacher already given them detentions?

"Fine." Grey had apparently decided to back down and walk away, dragging Natsu behind him. "Pub, this evening?" Lucy nearly blanched. No wonder their so easy-going. Is that even allowed?

Lucy mused about the overheard exchange all through the next lesson. She had come from a very fancy private school that had a very strong emphasis on discipline and authority, so this kind of teacher-student relationship was entirely foreign to her. Clearly Mr. Conbalt didn't mind Natsu and Grey calling him by his first name, or throwing insults back and forth with them. He even clearly trusted Natsu enough to babysit his own child. She would have to get used to the attitudes of the students here, although she was still thrown off by the realisation that the same boy she'd run into the day before, was the class prankster and trouble maker. This morning had already been interesting, she couldn't wait until break.

Thank you to those that are reading and following! I suppose I should have said that this will be mainly NaLu stuff. But I'll throw some GaLe (can't get enough of then) and Gruvia, etc, in for good measure.

I feel like it's taking ages to get the story to where I want it, but I suppose it all happens in my head rather quickly, and writing it out is another matter. Plus I keep getting distracted with other stories, like much steamier NaLu or NaLu with children...

Anyway! Tried to keep this section shorter. Hope you enjoy! Reviews very welcome! Or even suggestions of well-written pieces. Some people write way too well and I want to copy (read: learn from) them.