So I've been working on this one-shot, but it turned out so much longer than I thought.

Therefore, I'm going to split it up into two parts, but don't worry—I finished the whole thing.

Please enjoy and give feedback <3

She was standing in the pouring rain, watching her loved one drive away in his luxurious car. She was soaked from head to toe, her salty tears mixed with the rain, and she clasped her hands over her mouth to muffle her crestfallen sobs.

You, who sat on your comfortable sofa, stared at the woman on the TV. "How stupid," you muttered. "Why would anyone do that?"

"Do what?" your friend, who was in the kitchen eating all of your snacks, asked.

"Falling for someone beyond your reach," you responded, sighing. "It's so cliched and fake...if you know they don't like you, then why are you still chasing after them?"

Your friend laughed. "That's so something you would say," she remarked. "It's just because you, Miss (Y/n), have never fallen in love before, so you don't know what it's like."

You rolled your eyes with a sigh. While it was true you had never fallen for anyone before, you just couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to let go of someone you knew was a jerk.

Well, it's best not to judge, you thought, shrugging as you switched the show, even though I can't understand it...

Your eyes widened as you turned around. "Wait, are you eating my favorite snack that I just bought yesterday?" you demanded.

Your friend froze as she stared at you, wide-eyed. "Uh," she mumbled, laughing nervously. "Now, only a complete idiot would do that, right?"

"So you did," you concluded as you glared at her.

"Oh my god, (Y/n), you are so rude!"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who's eating all my food!"

***

Walking down the hallway, you scrolled through your phone as you sighed for the fiftieth time. "Seriously, I need to know what happens next," you sighed. "Stupid authors with their stupid cliffhangers..."

You heard yelling from the end of the corridor, but you brushed it off as just another measly fight amongst the lower grade students. Quickly, you plugged in your earbuds and played your favorite song to tune those useless, obnoxious students out.

As you hummed, feeling your mood cheer up rather quickly, you spotted the troublesome students running down the hallway. One of them had unique pink hair, which you assumed was obviously dyed, and he was running down the hallway with a wide smile. Behind him was a dark-haired male, chasing after the first student and yelling something after him.

You turned up the volume of the song and walked toward the side of the hallway to avoid them. You turned to face the windows, sighing.

What kind of idiots are running around at this unholy hour? you wondered. It's still so early...

Abruptly, something crashed into your shoulder and you yelped as you lost balance. You inevitably collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, and your earbuds had been ripped out of your ears as your phone slid to the other side of the hallway.

Wincing in pain, you sat up as you fixated your gaze on the clumsy male who had run into you.

You realized that it was the pink-haired male, and he was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Oops," he mumbled with a toothy grin. "My bad!"

You narrowed your eyes at him, ignoring the throbbing pain in your shoulder, and spat, "Watch where you're going and stop running down the halls, idiot."

His eyes widened, startled. "I-idiot?!" he demanded.

You rolled your eyes as you hastily moved to pick up your things, not wanting to be tardy. "Who are you calling an idiot?" he shouted, glaring at you as he stood up. "You're the one who didn't see me!"

Feeling frustration bubbling in your stomach, you turned to face him sharply and retaliated, "Well, it's not like everyone should part for you like the Red Sea, now, should we?"

"What are you talking about?! Didn't you know that the seas are blue? And you're calling me an idiot?!"

"You're the moron who doesn't know what the Red Sea is!"

"You're the one who started talking about red seas and being mad at me!"

"Oh, I wonder why I'm mad at you...maybe it's because you shoved me to the ground!"

He groaned in irritation. "God, you're so annoying!"

"Look who's talking!" you replied, snorting as you slung your backpack over your shoulder.

Wincing in pain, you quickly switched shoulders; you'd momentarily forgotten about the injury you'd gained when the pink-haired student had crashed into you. Completely ignoring his existence and deciding that he wasn't worth your time, you strode past him without a second glance.

I really hope I never have to see his face again, you thought, rolling your eyes.

***

You stared at the student sitting just two seats away from you. "There's no way," you mumbled in disbelief.

You pressed your palm against your forehead as you thought, How have I never noticed him before? Has he always been in this class? Have I detached myself from reality so much that I don't even know the people in my class?

"Morning, (Y/n)," your friend greeted drowsily, clearly still half-asleep. "You look angrier than usual."

Sighing, you turned to her and asked, "(F/n), has that pink-haired moron always been in this class?"

She hummed before widening her eyes, suddenly completely awake. "Oh!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Are you talking about Natsu Dragneel?"

A smile spread across her lips and you stared at her with a raised eyebrow; you had not expected such an overzealous reaction. "How interesting, that you're suddenly asking about a boy," she mused with a coy smirk. "What is it? Has he caught your eye? Has our (Y/n) finally shown some interest in someone other than your 2D senpais?"

You snorted, shaking your head. "Shut up," you murmured. "Nobody would like that idiot, anyways...he's too annoying."

To your surprise, (F/n) began laughing boisterously. "I can't believe you just called him an idiot," she commented between giggles. "Now that I think about it, you called him a moron earlier, too! Don't you know that he's super well-liked?"

You jerked a finger at him. "Him? Well-liked?" you deadpanned.

"Don't stare at me like I'm lying to you!" she whined, sighing. "I can't believe you've been living under a rock this entire time."

"It's not my fault you're the only person I know in this entire class," you grumbled, resting your head in your hand. "So? What do you mean he's well-liked?"

(F/n) raised a finger knowingly and cleared her throat. "Natsu Dragneel!" she proclaimed. "'Natural' pink hair, or so he says, and dark eyes. Friendly, rowdy, handsome, sporty, and down-to-earth. Most girls like him for his looks, guys like him for his friendliness, and underclassmen look up to him as an influence."

It was like you were talking to a walking Wikipedia page; you wouldn't be surprised if she started listing his height and shoe size. "Holy crap, he sounds like a male protagonist from a K-drama," you muttered.

"Exactly!" she agreed, snapping her fingers with a smile. "If I had to fault him for anything, though, it's his grades. He's not very favorable among most teachers..."

You nodded, snickering as you recalled his stupid remarks about the Red Sea. His grades must be lower than those girls' standards, you thought, glancing over at a group of girls very blatantly flirting with Natsu.

As the bell rang, (F/n) sat down in her seat in front of you whilst the teacher strolled into class with two donuts on a paper plate. "Settle down," he called, "especially you, Natsu—it's too early for your energy."

A few students chuckled as the said student responded, "But sir, could I have some of your breakfast? Those donuts look super fresh."

"If you finish your two weeks worth of homework, I'll consider it," he quickly quipped back as more students snickered.

A smile graced your lips as you hid it with your fingers, shifting your gaze to the window. As usual, my English teacher is the best.

Before long, the class began and you took a few notes now and then, absentmindedly doodling in the corners of your page. It was fifteen minutes into the class period, and you were half-listening to the teacher's lecture when it was rudely interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice.

"You're in this class, too?!"

You jolted in surprise as you looked up, only to find that Natsu was pointing and staring directly at you. His unexpected outburst caught the attention of the entire class and they all stared at you, wondering what had caused him to say such a thing.

This moron.

Usually, you would have stayed quiet and continued to mind your own business until everyone else lost interest in you and went back to their work. However, you felt an odd sense of irritation stirring in you from his comment and felt compelled to reply.

Before your teacher could tell Natsu to stop being an annoying dunce, you looked Natsu straight in the eyes and smiled. "Really?" you asked, heavy sarcasm dripping from your voice. "You don't say."

The class was silent for a beat before (F/n) choked on laughter; a few other students sniggered as well whilst the teacher cleared his throat. Amusement was written all over his face, but he managed to keep his composure. Natsu, on the other hand, appeared to be lost and didn't understand, but it was clear he knew what you said was offensive.

He scowled. "You—"

"That's enough, Natsu, (Y/n)," the teacher interrupted, fixing his eyes on Natsu. "Especially you, Natsu. As I said, you have two weeks' worth of homework to do...and even more, a week of classwork to do beyond that. Instead of randomly pointing at people, I suggest you take some notes."

"But sir," Natsu whined childishly, "she was making fun of me!"

"I see," the teacher said, turning to you. "Well done, (Y/n)."

You nodded back with a smirk. "Thank you."

Natsu's jaw slackened as the entire class burst into a fit of giggles—well, it would have been the entire class if not for the group of girls drilling holes into you with their sharp glares. You avoided looking at them, not wanting to be burned by their piercing stares.

"Or should I put it like this?" the teacher continued, crossing his arms. "We have another big test in two weeks. Natsu, if you fail this test—again—then I'll have no choice but to tell your coach that you can't play in the next tournament."

Betrayal was written all over Natsu's face as he stared at the teacher in horror. "B-but that's—"

"The championship?" he finished knowingly. "Then I suggest you study. Honestly, your grade is depressing at this point—so depressing that I don't even want to put it in the grade book."

The teacher turned back curtly and pointed at the board. "So where was I? Like I said, for the essay, you're..."

You quickly jotted down some notes, knowing this part of the lesson was crucial to the test but flinched upon feeling someone's eyes on you. You turned and peeked at Natsu, only to find that he was staring directly at you.

You expected him to be glaring at you like you were his arch-nemesis, but instead, he was staring at you with a look of curiosity in his eyes. Quickly, you turned away and paid him no mind.

What's with that guy? Stop staring at me...you thought, frowning.

(F/n) turned around and wiggled her eyebrows. "Becoming rather bold today, are we?" she whispered. "I see the chemistry between you and Dragneel."

You sighed, poking her forehead playfully. "Considering how you failed chemistry, I wouldn't take your word for it."

She gaped at you in astonishment before pretending to sob. "My (Y/n) is becoming colder to me," she cried.

You, too, were surprised by your comments today as you smiled and patted her head. True, I'm bolder than usual today, you thought. Weird.

***

As you walked down the hall during lunch, you thought back to your rather entertaining first class. Does this mean I have to see him every single morning from now on?

Glancing at your phone, you texted (F/n) and typed, "Where are you? I'm going to the library."

You entered the library and looked around, seeking a quiet place to finish your homework last minute. Once you found a table in the corner of the room, you quickly headed over there and placed your backpack on the ground.

As you pulled out your things, you heard a male's voice saying, "Oh? You're the girl..."

You looked up to see a dark-haired male staring down at you. "Oh," you said, eyes widening in recognition. "You're the second one."

"The second one?" he echoed cluelessly.

"The second idiot," you answered matter-of-factly. "You were chasing that Natsu kid this morning, right?"

"It's not my fault," he defended, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "That idiot stole my phone."

You quirked an eyebrow. "He stole your phone?"

"He was asking for homework answers, but I didn't want to send it to him," he explained with a defeated sigh, "so he chose to steal my phone for blackmail."

"What an imbecile," you murmured.

He cracked a smile and nodded in agreement. "What a true statement," he said, saluting you. "Well, anyway, I'm Gray Fullbuster. I think you're in my math class."

You squinted at him—it was true, he seemed awfully familiar. "Not sure," you admitted. "I'm (Y/n) (L/n), nice to meet you."

To your surprise, he took a seat across from you and leaned back lazily. "Are you doing the math homework from last night?" he asked, peering down at your papers.

You took a pencil out as you replied, "Yeah."

"I have the answers if you want," Gray offered.

You glanced up at him; it was shocking, to say the least, with how friendly he was, and you wondered if he had any ulterior motives. "No," you decided, despite the tempting offer. "(F/n) will be here soon and we're going to do it together."

"Your friend?" he asked as you nodded. "I see. If you don't mind, I'll be hanging here. I'm hiding from that idiot."

You stared at him. "Hiding?" you repeated. "You're sitting in the library, in broad daylight."

He chuckled, winking. "You think that guy ever comes to the library?"

You laughed as you looked back down at your homework, scribbling down the formula in the corner. Gray pulled out his phone and scrolled through it for a few minutes while you worked in comfortable silence.

(F/n) arrived after a moment, panting. "Sorry, (Y/n)!" she cried as she heaved for breath.

"Did you run the marathon or something?" you questioned, furrowing your eyebrows.

"N-no, I was just running away from a few girls," she explained, huffing for breath as she collapsed in the seat next to you. "It was scary..."

"Girls?" Gray asked, glancing up.

(F/n) blinked as she waved. "Oh, hey Gray," she greeted, placing two bottled drinks on the table.

"Yo, (F/n)," he answered. "So what were you talking about with girls?"

Before you could ask, she turned to you and explained quickly, "He's in my last class."

You nodded as she continued, "So I was getting these drinks, yeah, and those girls from the first-period class came up to me, asking about you!"

You pointed at yourself in surprise. "Me?"

"Yeah, I was surprised, too," she agreed, "and they were asking about how you knew Natsu and all that."

You recalled their sharp glares and sighed. "How annoying. Did they interrogate you?"

"Well, I kind of tricked them," she mumbled sheepishly, "by pointing behind them and saying that I just saw Natsu walk down the hall, all sweaty from exercising. They ran down the hall and I escaped."

You smiled at her proudly, patting her head. "Good job," you praised.

She smiled as Gray chuckled. "Hilarious," he said, "but that's frustrating...those girls are pretty scary. I'll see if I can do anything about them."

(F/n) just nodded while you turned to him in confusion. "What could you do about it?" you asked.

He placed a finger on his lips as he smiled at you. "That's a secret."

***

You walked down the hall, taking a sip of the bottled drink (F/n) had gotten you. It was still relatively cold, so you savored the flavor with a smile.

You peeked at your phone, but before you could actually click anything, you bumped into someone and nearly tipped over your drink. You yelped as you reached forward and held it with both hands, keeping it from falling over.

You heard someone shout and turned to see that it was none other than the infamous Natsu Dragneel, who'd fallen on the ground. You closed the bottle and stared down at him, contemplating if you should help him or not.

"Geez, woman, why are you all over the place today?" he demanded.

You twitched in annoyance before turning away, deciding, "Yup, helping him is just a waste of energy."

"What did you say?!" he yelled as he jumped back up as if his fall hadn't hurt him in the slightest. "Why are you so rude?"

You glanced back at him. "Do you even hear yourself?" you asked. "You're much ruder than me."

"Whatever," he muttered, sighing. "Anyways, Gray told me to come and find you."

"Gray did?" you questioned in surprise, raising your eyebrows. "What for?"

Natsu crossed his arms. "He said something about asking you to be my tutor," he explained reluctantly. "I don't want one, but I'd be kicked off my team if I don't raise my grades...not to mention the championship is almost here."

You hummed thoughtfully. "But why should I help you?"

Natsu nearly fell to the ground in defeat as he shouted, "What? What do you mean, why should you help me?"

"Did you think I would tutor you for free?" you asked, glancing over at him questioningly. "I have better ways to spend my time than tutoring you."

He stared at you before sighing. "You're right," he agreed. "Fine, fine, I'll pay you for it. If you tutor me, I'll buy you your favorite drink every day. Deal?"

You paused as you considered his offer. On one hand, you honestly wanted nothing to do with him, and you wondered if you even had the ability to properly teach someone as dense and slow as him. On the other hand, the deal was incredibly tempting and it would save you a lot of money if someone else was paying for your favorite drink every day.

At long last, you nodded in agreement with a heavy sigh. "Fine, I guess."

He pumped a fist with a grin. "Yes!" he exclaimed as he halted in his steps. "Oh, this is my class, so I'll go first. See you after school tomorrow, then?"

A tiny smile graced your lips as you replied, "Unfortunately."

"What do you mean, 'unfortunately'?!"

***

With that, your tutoring sessions with the idiotic Natsu Dragneel has been going on for a solid week now. Despite his handsome looks, outgoing persona, and great athletic skills, you realized he was as dense as a rock. Oftentimes, you had to break things down and explain them in the simplest terms possible for him to even remotely understand.

Because the next major test was in English, you two mostly studied English, though you also tutored him in other subjects as well. Though you spent much time repeating yourself exasperatedly, you realized that he was making a lot of progress in his work.

You sipped on the (f/d) that Natsu had bought you that morning, absentmindedly humming your favorite song as you strolled down the hallway. Natsu had practice that day, and (F/n) had to see a teacher, so you were left alone to your thoughts.

It's better like this, you thought. For once, it's quiet...I haven't been able to relax like this for a while.

As you turned a corner, you found yourself face-to-face with the girls that were widely known in the school as Natsu's fans. Groaning internally, you maneuvered around them and tried to avoid them as much as possible, though you knew they'd already seen you.

Just ignore me, pretend I'm invisible, you thought, cringing.

"Hey, you."