Author's note: Okay, first of all, I want to thank all the very sweet people who review my stories and I'm not able to PM haha Sophie, Laura, BN, Macie, 008, and all the guest reviewers haha you make me really happy.

Well, about this thing here. Yeah, I'm starting a new series, and a pretty ambitious one HAHA the plan here is to tackle at least one random/important moment a year since the year Chandler and Monica met, so this isn't going to be a short one haha once again, I'm very excited, so maybe the updates won't take long.

This first chapter is a little more angsty than what I plan for most of the story, but I swear it's the writers' fault for having them meet on those terms! haha I hope it's nice reading it anyway

Late 1987

It wasn't like Monica had never dealt with insults before. She was actually pretty used to it. Kids always laughed at her in school; people on the streets stared; doctors made fun of her. Even her mother, the one who was supposed to love her the most, seemed to despise her. She had only one friend, her best friend, who seemed to genuinely like her, but having lived with such disdain and disrespect since early years made her wonder why Rachel was still around.

No one liked her. She was dumb, she was crazy, she was ugly and fat. No one cares about girls like me.

Monica looked at the mirror; her eyes were puffy from too much crying. She hadn't been crying out of sadness though. She was mostly frustrated and angry; she felt ashamed too. Who does he think he is? With that stupid hair and that stupid thanksgiving-hating attitude? And to think she believed him to be different, only to find out he was more of the same – a guy who was as dumb and shallow as any other, who looked at her and saw "fat girl" instead of "human being". She had even made him a tasteful dish – she had been worried about him not having options to eat. You're such an idiot, Monica silently reprimanded her own reflection in the mirror as if she was taking out on herself the anger she was feeling towards that Chandler boy.

The family and the guests had a little snack later, sharing the space in the living room to small talk. She felt like crying the whole time, averting her eyes not only from him but from everybody. Rachel had asked her what was going on, and Monica promised to tell her everything the other day. For a moment she was afraid of turning the night into an unbearably uncomfortable event, but turns out being completely ignored by her mother counted as something good this time. Too engrossed in every little detail about Ross's life, Mrs. Geller hadn't even noticed how upset Monica was – she was very thankful for the fact that dinner had happened already, since not eating in such an important meal would definitely attract a lot of attention.

What made everything worse was the fact that she wanted him to notice she was upset, somehow figure out that she had overheard him, worry about hurting her feelings. He didn't even look at her though. That was the biggest reason for the painful sting inside her chest. He wouldn't even feel sorry for being rude. Rachel was about to leave, and Monica raised her eyebrows at her brother creating some lame excuse to follow her friend out. When she looked at Chandler again, she could swear he looked upset too – it clearly wasn't because of her, which perked her curiosity, but then she forced herself to shrug it off.

Turns out the boy would stay for the night – great, Monica bitterly thought. She had locked herself in her room the minute she learned about that, not willing to ever see him again. After a couple of hours, she had a bathroom trip and went to the kitchen to get some water; the original plan would normally focus on getting a snack, but she wouldn't do that. Not this time, not anymore. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she noticed him there, in the dark living room. Why is he still up?

"Ross hasn't come back…" He said, out of the blue, startling her – did he just read my mind of something? She didn't know why Ross had left earlier, her luck only allowed her to overhear the offensive part of their conversation, not the original plan from her brother. "Would you hang out with me?" Chandler solicited with the most embarrassed, cringed face in the world.

Does he want me to stay? Why? She couldn't understand his motives, but for sure she could tell he looked sad. He looked… lonely. For a second she thought maybe Ross as a friend was a little bit like Rachel – being there for you most of the times but disappearing in a minute when you happened to need her the most. Well, Monica thought, Rachel usually vanishes for boys, so I'm sure this guy doesn't have to deal with that. She never knew what kind of friend her brother was.

"So?" Chandler's voice startled her again, her body visibly bouncing a little. He chuckled at that, and though she was expecting to hear that mean kind of chuckle, the sound leaving his mouth at the moment reverberated amusement, almost as if he was finding her reaction cute. He doesn't think I'm cute though, she reminded herself. Not at all. He didn't want to be stuck with his friend's fat sister. That's what I am to him – Ross's fat sister. He's just talking to me because he doesn't have any other option.

She felt her blood boil, her cheeks burn, and suddenly a rush of anger washed all over her body.

"Ass munch!" And at that she turned around, leaving a very confused teenage boy still sitting on the couch. He was definitely too shocked to barely move, wondering why the derogatory term had been directed at him.

Monica stomped off to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her with her rapid heartbeat drumming in her ears. She felt powerful for having called him that – he thinks he's the only one who can call people things? Well, he's wrong!

She calmed herself down a little and grabbed one of her many notebooks – getting a pen from her dresser, she started planning a schedule of activities and meals for the following day, which would be the first one of her new life.