Welcome to chapter 1.

Summer/Autumn - The first day.

The large assembly hall was structured to a beautiful standard and held strong as several hundred new students crammed within it, lines formed either side of the hall with no sign of letting up. Laughter and talking filled everyone's ears, causing them to chatter even louder to try and hear each other. A couple of girls screamed within their bubble of friendly entertainment, causing the hungover blonde to tsk under her breath at her friend in total disgust.

"Look at those bimbos, they look like they're going to faint in total idiocy in front of those guys." She flicked her hair and rolled her eyes, "I bet even though they'll never study they'll get perfect grades, they're another reason I hate rich kids with no class."

Her friend, small and slim stood beside her, glasses perched on the edge of her nose and her eyes completely transfixed in the book she held in her hands. The blonde smirked and muttered, "If you frown like that consistently then you'll get wrinkles." When her friend took no interest, the blonde flicked her forehead with her freshly manicured nails. "Levy, are you even listening to me?"

Her friend looked up in astonishment and blinked several times before regaining her composure, "I'm sorry!" She closed her book after marking the page, "I was listening, I swear." She giggled, "But aren't you a rich kid, Lucy?"

Lucy raised a plucked brow and let her mouth drop, "Excuse me, I am a rich kid with class. Albeit not a lot. Especially after last night, ugh." She blinked in her dismay of memories of hard liquor and several men's numbers being crammed into her back pockets of her leather skinny jeans. "At least i'll study for my grades, those girls daddy's pay for their grades. You can just tell." Lucy crossed her arms across her chess in defence. "Or suck a few dic…"

"Next!" The lady behind the registration table called out, cutting the blonde off. The queue slowly shuffled along, Lucy grabbed her small friend between the crowd and leading her through.

"How the heck are you still reading after the amount you drank last night?" Lucy muttered, peering at the front cover. "Especially a book of a language I can't even pronounce? I'm getting a headache just looking at it."

Levy giggled, "I had a fried breakfast and a cup of coffee, I felt fine after that." She cocked her head to the side and smirked, "It is Khitan, it's a language spoken between AD 388 – 1243. It is so intricate and wondrous," Levy swooned, "I think I am in love."

"You're such a nerd," Lucy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am so drinking coffee after this. There's a Starbucks nearby, wanna go?"

Her small friend's nose wrinkled, "Starbucks underpay their staff and rip off people in Africa and lower developed countries, thanks but no thanks. I would much rather go to The Exploding Bakery that's down the street. They meet minimum wage and use recyclable cups and lids. Plus their coffee tastes better."

"You're right, give back to the people who make sure University student's hangovers go away and all that…" Lucy sighed, spotting the queue again. "Looks like we're up."

"NEXT!" The woman screamed behind the desk.

"You go first," Lucy mumbled gesturing to the line.

Levy smiled and moved forward, but just as she took her first step she was suddenly nudged out of the way. "Can you get any slower?" Someone snapped, "Geez, such a slow idiot."

The small girl looked up in astonishment to a man with half and half hair of the colours white and black, he was wearing an orange hoody and skinny jeans that had a loose belt strapped around his waist. His boots were army looking. Levy blinked and frowned, "Excuse me, but I was about to go up."

"Pfft, go away." He snapped.

"Hey, Totomaru stop being a fool!" A man with a french accent spoke, slightly older that the former, probably a third year in the Uni. "Sign up so I can show you guys around, Aria is waiting."

"Shut up." Totomaru grumbled. He glared at Levy, "You looking for a punch, shortie?"

Lucy growled and stepped in front of her friend snapped, "Hey asshole, we got here before you, that means we get to sign up before you. Got that?"

"Excuse me?" The french man spoke again, "I believe that our friend beat you to it," he gestured to the person who suddenly appeared in front of them all. He signed the piece of paper on the registration table and showed the woman at the desk his pass, ID, and papers regarding his allowance.

He turned around and rolled his eyes at Totomaru, "You took too long you idiot." He sighed putting his belongings back in his bag, "Hurry up, will ya'?" As he moved towards the exit, he shoved Levy to the side, "Gee, I almost squashed you, Shortie. Should wear a neon jumper so people can actually see you." Totomaru laughed as his friend left the assembly hall, with Levy looking after him in disgust.

After more bickering, Lucy finally lost all of her patience and used her knee to cause Totomaru some brief pain and pushed Levy towards the woman as the odd little man withered on the floor. Levy absently showed her pass, ID and allowance sheets before signing her name. She got out of the way and waited patiently for Lucy to meet with her outside.

Lucy talked with her suddenly absent minded friend as they made their way down Strawberry St to The Exploding Bakery cafe. Levy got them a seat as Lucy ordered two cappuccinos and some of the freshly baked and prepared sandwiches that were advertised behind the glass, before sitting down herself.

They ate whilst they chatted, Levy managing to answer her friends pressing questions about why men were so tedious and lame, or how on earth she was supposed to survive on £100 a week after she had paid for all of her food, rent and other bills. "I mean, I do need to get paper to write on, pay for wifi, more notebooks to write on and party and stuff like that. How the heck does the government think University students with new found freedom can survive on that?" She then widened her eyes, "And clothes! Winter is literally around the corner! I'll need a new coat, shoes, and jeans to wear!"

"Save up, and start using that iPad you brought last summer instead of using paper." Levy mumbled in reply, "After all, it is a lot more economical." She sighed deeply, taking a sip of her coffee. "And what about your dad? Can't he give you some money?"

Lucy pouted and then cocked her head to the side in wonder, "Are you alright, Lev? You've been quiet ever since we left the sign up." She raised a brow, "If it is about those guys back there, forget them, they're typical assholes with mysogonistic attitudes towards women. Especially since one of them threatened to hit you."

Levy bit her lip, "That other guy called me short…"

Lucy looked shocked for a split second, her face regained composure and a smile formed on her lips. "Well you're hardly five foot eight," She giggled. She then rolled her eyes, "You've been called 'shortie' and 'midget' since you were ten years old. You've always seemed to be nonchalant about it, why the change?"

Levy shrugged, "I don't know, it just seemed to annoy me a lot more than usual." She looked up, "Maybe it is because I haven't been called any of those names since the first year of college. I thought people matured eventually… I guess it just shocked me, ya' know?"

Lucy sipped her coffee and pursed her lips, "Or maybe you're in love, like in those love stories of the women who fall in love with someone they didn't even properly let their gaze drift on before." She said dreamily, "I love those stories."

Lucy's eyes went back to her friend who looked back at her deadpanned, Lucy snorted and leant back in her chair. "Hey, it happens you know."

"Even if that were true to some people, I'd hardly call it love when someone calls you short." Levy replied, stuffing the rest of her sandwich in her mouth and chewed grumpily.

Lucy wiggled her eyebrows, "Well you will never know until it happens I guess." She looked up to the door when it suddenly jingled, her eyes widened her finger jabbing Levy in the arm instantly. "Wait a minute, isn't that the one who called you short, right there?"

"Ow!" Levy mumbled, rubbing her arm as she peaked over her shoulder. "I think so?" She shrugged, "Possibly."

Levy found herself studying the man who entered the cafe, he was holding several books and a folder. His face was almost expressionless, apart from the distasteful glare he gave the person in front of him who took forever getting their change out of their wallet. The blue haired girl found herself looking even closer when she saw him smirk at the lady once it was his turn in the queue.

The man had long black hair that naturally looked flicked and wavy, he wore it in a pony tail that went just under his shoulder blades in length. His skin was toned and coppery in colour, his jaw line was almost to die for, and his nose added character to his face in its strong definition. His eyes were shaped like almonds and were a deep brown that looked red in the light.

It was no shocker that he was tall, possibly around six foot four in height. His posture being as good as it was, made him almost look taller. He had several tattoos and many more piercings. Some even on his arms and several on each of his eyebrows. He dressed in boyfriend style baggy jeans and a black vest, and due to the humidity of today, he hung his dark red denim jacket over his arm. His boots were army style, black and had spikes on the back of his heel.

It was safe for Levy to conclude that this guy was an odd kind of beautiful. Especially for her.

The man handed something to the girl behind the counter who blushed at the sight of him, he smiled briefly as she read it. She grinned and nodded, he smirked in return in a triumphant way. After more talking, she shook his hand and then he left with an extra strong mocha and a sandwich. He hardly looked in any direction but the food and the woman.

Thank god.

Lucy smirked at her friend's staring and winked, "You were totally checking him out, Levy McGarden."

Levy blinked in surprise and bit her lip, "No I wasn't."

"You bite your lip every time you lie," Lucy said finishing her coffee triumphantly. "I should write a book about you, I would be rich and famous."

"You're already rich." Levy muttered, unimpressed with her friend's sudden money scheme.

Lucy snorted, "All I need is the fame then," she winked again and picked up her bag and paid for the lunch. "Let's go and buy some stuff from the University shop. To answer your question from earlier, dad's only giving me fifty pounds a week for food. He's letting me try the independency thing, though he only agreed on that because he thought I'd bail on it a week in." She chuckled, "So I need to find cheap deals."

Levy was glad her friend changed the subject and joked lightly, "Maybe then you could save even more money with my other suggestion, use that iPad you got, goddamn it." She chuckled, "Save the trees."

"Yeah yeah, quit your whining." Lucy laughed as they walked back towards the University.

All the while, Levy couldn't help but have thoughts that included that oddly beautiful man.

I wonder what his name is…

—

Autumn - (2 weeks later) Class begins.

She was running for dear life. Not only was she hung over, but she was late for the first class of the day. Her first ever class in University, and she was goddamn late.

"Goddamn it McGarden!" She yelped out loud as she sprinted up the steps.

Of course it was tradition to start a new university year with a party, Levy and Lucy turned up at a man called Loke's house that was a twenty minute walk away from campus. It was a large house, and as the only son of three of a family of multinational school supply company founders, the alcohol stock was even more outstanding than the house. Bottles of expensive champagne, whiskey, vodka and rum were aligned on a crystal glass table in the middle of the first hallway. People helped themselves, luckily there was a lot of alcohol for the amount of people that turned up.

When Lucy had knocked on the door, she adjusted the strapless deep red dress that she chose to wear and winked at Levy. Who Lucy had forced to wear a cream coloured above the knee dress that pleated at the bottom, and pushed up her small cleavage at the bodice. When the host swung open the door happily, he greeted Lucy fondly and hugged her tight, gesturing towards the champagne stating, "Lovely ladies like you deserve the best, after all."

Even though Loke and Lucy met only hours before, it seemed that the handsome guy enjoyed Lucy's company. Even Levy could see that, though the guy didn't hide it very well.

The night was full of laughing, good music, dancing and a lot of booze. Too much booze, Levy realised when it got to one in the morning. All night, Levy had been talking to one of Loke's friends, Jet. He was on a P.E course, and he was an enthusiastic guy, though he made Levy laugh a few times, they unfortunately both ended drinking far too much. When she woke up the next morning with him, naked in a bed that she didn't recognise, the smile he gave her left. She gritted her teeth, dressing quickly and looking at the clock. By that point, she had two hours before class.

As she walked through the hallway, she realised where she was. She was still at Loke's, she had slept with someone in an acquaintance's home.

Not just slept with someone… lost her virginity to someone in an acquaintance's home.

Keeping back her tears, Levy found Lucy at Loke's breakfast table hugging a mug of coffee with the handsome man sitting beside her making pleasant conversation. Lucy caught Levy's eye and widened them, "Um, Lev, are you alright?"

"Yeah, can we go… please?" Levy said, holding back her tears as well as she could.

Lucy caught onto the aura her friend gave off and nodded, standing and grabbing her bag, "Thank you Loke, for the party. It was great!" She pushed her friend towards the door, "Thanks for the coffee, you got my number!"

"I'll call you, Beautiful!" He called back before the door slammed.

They got to the outside seats of The Exploding Bakery coffees in hand before Levy burst into tears. Lucy looked at her knowingly, "So… it happened, huh?"

Levy choked and sobbed, nodding furiously as she sipped on the scalding coffee. "All I remember is making out with him and when he touched my thigh, I didn't stop him, I kinda wanted it at the time… I was going to wait Luce… I was waiting for someone I really wanted to share that experience with."

Lucy sighed and rubbed her back soothingly, "Don't be too hard on yourself, I asked Loke about it this morning since we peeked in on you two sleeping… I didn't want to wake you, since you drank a lot last night. But Loke said that Jet never had sex before either, actually, he's never even had a girlfriend." She sighed again, "Both of you are in the same predicament of not knowing how your first time went down, and regretting it." She shrugged slowly, "Just… make a promise to yourself to not do it again until it is with someone you enjoy being around, and believe to be the one since that's your ideal." Levy looked up thankfully to her friend who grinned, "Meanwhile, I'll promise to stop you if someone takes advantage of drunken Levy again." She held out her pinkie, "I double, triple promise."

Levy choked a chuckle before putting her pinkie in link of her friend's, "Thanks Luce…" She wiped her tears away, "I need a shower… I don't think Jet was particularly gentle…"

"Ah…" Lucy rubbed her neck and looked at her watch, "Well… we have one hour and ten minutes till class… wanna race?"

"Nope, but I think we'd still better run!" Levy laughed, grabbing her friend by the hand and dragging her on a ten minute run to their apartment in extravagant heels.

Levy shook her head as she reached the top of the third floor, she scolded herself for thinking about last night. She promised herself that it was a mistake and that she would learn from it with swift vigour.

Her first ever class at the University of Fairy Tail, was Ancient History 101. Her main degree, the one class that made her swoon and excited to learn. Unfortunately for Levy's tired body, it was on the third floor and at the very back of the University.

When she finally got to the door, she stopped outside for a few moments to catch her breath. Peering through the window, she saw that people were sitting in the dark whilst watching a slideshow about Ancient Artefacts from 100 BC, with several lines of text on the side of each picture. Levy bit her lip, wondering if she could sneak if unnoticed and save herself from first day embarrassment.

She hadn't heard the footsteps, but she wish she had. Because it would've saved the squeal that escaped her throat when someone poked her shoulder, shocking her completely. She spun around, clutching her chest and peering upwards. "You scared me!" She hissed.

It was then she realised who she was talking to, she widened her eyes. "You…"

"Shortie," the black haired odd beauty smirked down on her.

"Wait you remember the girl who you shoved whilst she waited patiently in line to register?"

The guy rolled his eyes, "I also remember the girl at the coffee shop with her blonde friend with big boobs staring at me too." He snorted, "And with your hair, you're hard to miss." He shrugged, "So are you going to make me late too, or are you going to actually go into class?"

Levy widened her eyes, "You're taking Ancient History 101?"

"Yes, I am also taking Music and English Literature, thanks for asking. But that still doesn't answer my question." He crossed his arms across his chest and grinned, "Why? Don't you think I can do Ancient History?"

The blue haired girl squirmed, "No it isn't that! I was just shocked… mostly people who look more like me… well, take this class. Not men who wear spiky army boots."

He bent down slightly to just above her level, grinning widely. "Well that's just judging a book by its cover, Shortie. Now let's go inside before people start to notice our conversation." He pushed her slightly by the small of back and muttered, "Gajeel Redfox, and you are?"

She looked up and behind her shoulder and gulped, "Levy McGarden… Um nice too meet you?"

"I sure hope so," he chuckled and pushed her inside.

Luckily no one looked their way, even when she dropped several pencils from her case to the floor in her rushed manner.

Gajeel Redfox sat beside her, took one of her pencils and opened a packet of pretzels and offered her one.

She should've noticed that, that day was going to change her life a little… if not a lot.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy. Thanks to Rboz for her school AU of Gajevy for giving me some inspiration for this. (I am basing the Uni in England cause like... I don't know the American education system well... and I'm English- so it is logical)

Please review, I want to know what you think!