DISCLAIMER, I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS, BUT THE STORYLINE IS MINE. Enjoy

There he goes walking right past my locker like he does every morning, never even realizing I exist . . . and here I am, gazing at him with my dull blue eyes, whereas his dark blue, nearly black eyes are ablaze. Everyone looks at him and sees the most popular guy in school, the infamous "Ice King," who is in no need of a queen. And I'm . . .

"Hey look, it's Juvia the creeper!" A tall redhead points at me as I blush, grab my books and run off to my first class. They all laugh and avoid me, no one makes contact with me, in fear that I'll stalk them and hang their pictures up everywhere, on my locker, in my books, in my bags, even in my clothes. But how it got there, I still don't know. All I remember is that day when it all started, the name-calling, the shrieks and squeals, the laughter and mocking, the finger pointing and the shunning, but most painfully of all, Gray's respect for me.

He used to talk to me, he'd ask me questions in class, and we even hung out outside of the classroom on many occasions, and of course that didn't go over well with the other cheerleaders. They started whispering things, as if they were planning something, but I was too busy focusing on Gray to notice. His chiseled chest, the way the sun reflected off his navy-black hair, and his tattoo of a cross on his chest was perfect, so like Gray. He was definitely a bad boy, but I was no bad girl, I was a geek, and completely infatuated by not only him, but also the arts in general, along with schoolwork. I've been in advanced classes since I could speak practically, but there were those classes that I'd have to take with him, since we were in the same grade. I worked hard to get ahead of my class, then I met Gray and I suddenly wasn't so self absorbed in getting into college with a scholarship, I was beginning to feel a fascinated by him. I'll never forget the first time I saw him. It was the first day of winter of my present sophomore year, his too, but he was helping a defenseless kitten, taking it into a dry place inside his apartment building and giving it food, water, and a proper place to live.

"There you go little guy; this'll keep you warm." He petted the cat as it meowed and purred, thanking him as I smiled. I honestly wasn't stalking him, I was just trying to get home, but it was hard to remember what exactly I was doing when I saw him, standing there smiling at that cat, and how I wished someone would smile at me like that. Then he stood and looked over at me, smiling and saying hello in a friendly tone as I blushed and nodded, seeing the cat was placed in front of the door to our apartment. I didn't think it was a coincidence, but when I turned to say something, he was gone. I looked around but there was no sign of him, thus I decided to take the cat in, my mother objected at first, but she agreed, my father was away on business but she said we'd have to talk to him about it when he got back, I agreed as I took the kitten to my room and began working on homework. As I went to bed, a soft ball of fur curled up by my face as Mitty and I fell fast asleep, both dreaming of the same boy that made such a strong impact in our lives.

The next morning, I went to the pet store to buy Mitty some food, toys, cat litter, bowls, and the like suddenly I bumped into a firm object and apologized immediately.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I-I wasn't paying attention." I turned and looked up to see a familiar face.

"Oh no worries." He smiled bashfully as he instinctively brushed his fingers through his hair as I recognized him instantly.

"It's you." I said out loud accidentally.

"Me? Wait do we know each other?" He asked as I shook my head.

"No, but I saw you the other day with a black kitten with white socks, you left him in front of one of the doors in the apartment building. The little guy was in front of my door." I said, not knowing if he did indeed plan on the kitten staying with someone other than himself.

"Yes! I've been trying to find him a home, since my mother and brother are allergic. But it seems no one wants a stray." He shrugged, but his voice so hopeful.

"Oh yes, my mom said it was fine, so I'm here getting Mitty some things to make him more comfortable." I shrugged.

"Wow that's great! I'm sure he'll live a good life with you, seems as though the little guy's gonna live like a king." He chuckled as he pulled out canned cat food.

"He is indeed." I smiled bashfully.

"Here, I got this for him, how about we make a deal?" He asked me, his face rather serious now, and I noticed how his dark eyebrow looked much more angled when he tone changed, and he even raised one slightly.

"A deal?" I paused for a while before responding.

"Yes, I'll help pay for half of Mitty's things and come to see him, we can hang out too if you want. What-do-ya say?" He asked honestly as I shook his hand. And our deal was seat, he'd come over every night as I even helped with torturing him, and we talked and hung out with Mitty as our friendship formed, and I found myself slowly falling in love with him.

"Ok, so now you square root this, and add these two, and there you have your answer." I showed Gray as he smiled, saying it all made sense and that he couldn't believe his teacher couldn't have explained it so simply to him like I did. I simply shrugged and said it was a gift as he smiled brighter than the sun, I felt my heart throb and ache for him. We continued working on homework until my mom brought snacks and we talked more about ourselves.

"Ok Juvia, if you could do anything, and I mean ANYTHING in life what would it be? There are no limitations here." He said as he sat back, his napkin crumpled up and his empty teacup sitting on the coaster on the small coffee table in the center of my room. He always liked lying back after eating and asking me the most excruciatingly difficult questions involving life and death, love and strife, miracles and chance, and matters of the heart as well as the soul and mind.

"Anything hmm, that's a tough one . . . but I'd have to say finding the right person to spend the rest of my life with." I answered, feeling confident about my answer.

"What really? I would have expected you to say 'ending world hunger,' or 'ending poverty,' or 'finding a cure to cancer' but that's a surprise." He smiled as he chuckled lightly and I blushed.

"Really? Well now I feel guilty! I just thought that much more intelligent people could figure that out, but it can be really hard to find the right person for you. I mean I could still accomplish a lot in my life, I just want to know who my perfect match is." I shrugged as he smiled that charismatic smile of his.
"What about you Gray?" I looked at him as I sipped on my tea, cuddling into my warm blanket and large sweater.

"I have to agree with what you said. I'd love to find true love, but there's something else that really tempts me to pick it instead." He said the latter with a somber tone.

"What's that?" I asked as I put my cup down looking at him seriously.

"My family is pretty broken down, I wish we were all stronger, closer, and dependent on one another. So it's hard for me to pick which I'd want." He smiled as he looked at the ground, feeling conflicted as I put a small pale hand on his sturdy shoulder, covered by his baby blue sweatshirt.

"I see." I nodded my head as we changed the subject.

A few months passed as I noticed our winter formal dance was approaching, and I was dreading it, until Gray asked me to go with him, then my heart stopped beating altogether. I was so excited I ran over to the mall to shop for a dress, I went alone since Gray was the only person I liked hanging around. I looked around but had a difficult time finding something that was "perfect" but they had nice shades of blue but they were all so short and low cut, and I had curves thus it was difficult to find a dress that fit my body well. I thought a long dress was better and I found one that was a nice light blue shade with a crystal-like appearance with the sparkles sewed on and it glimmered colors of the rainbow with each shift of the dress. I tried it on and it hugged me in all the right places and I rather liked it, it had a sweetheart neckline and hugged my slim waist and upper thighs, then spreading out (it was a mermaid style dress). I purchased the dress and went over to the shoe department. I knew I had to wear heels since the dress was so long. I was fairly good in walking in heels and I found a pair of clear stiletto heels that appeared like glass and they were very comfortable. Next were accessories, and I found a nice pair of blue crystal studs and a dainty necklace with a crystal carriage with a gold chain and wheels. I next looked for small crystals to look for to put in my hair, bought a small blue and white studded clutch purse and headed home.

"Juvia hurry! Gray will be here any minute!" My mom called as I hurried, putting on makeup and the crystals in my hair, topped it off with a light shade of pink lipstick and looking over the end result. I thought I looked pretty good, ok really good . . . like Cinderella going to the ball. My hair was curled and pulled over to the side with the crystals spread out, my makeup had a smoky eye look with shades of blue and a bit of black with false eyelashes, mascara, flushed cheeks and lined lips with light pink lipstick. My dress fit perfectly and the jewelry looked great, I felt my heart leap when I heard the doorbell rang and I froze. I heard his voice and I wondered how he'd look with a tux on, with a bowtie and him smiling . . . and wearing a boutonniere to match my corsage. Suddenly I heard footsteps.

"Juvia, Gray is here. He's as handsome as ever." She squealed as I tried my best to contain myself, feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl. I walked towards the stairs, my hands shaking, but as I placed one on the rail, I walked down the stairs feeling a little less nervous, but my legs felt like Jell-O. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs I saw him, wearing a dark navy suit with a light blue bowtie, his hair gelled back, a smile on his face and holding a blue rose corsage. I couldn't stop smiling, and my heart wouldn't stop dropping deep into my stomach as butterflies swarmed inside me, I heard my heart beating in my ears.

"Wow Juvia, you look great." He looked me over as he smiled, gently putting my corsage on my left hand as I pinned the boutonniere onto his tux and we waved goodbye to my parents.

"You look very handsome tonight Gray." I smiled bashfully as he grabbed my hand.

"Come on, the limo's waiting." He said as we walked over to the limo.

"I'm so excited!" I squealed as we got in and drove off to our winter formal. I thought it was going to be the best night of my life . . . but as life would have it . . . things didn't turn out quite as they were supposed to.

We arrived at the dance and had such a great time, until we paused for a moment and had some punch and chatted with some fellow peers. Then I noticed the majority of people talking to me were guys, and the girls were giving me the death glare. I tried to avoid more people, and hung around Gray, then the punch hit me, and I had no choice but to use the restroom, I managed to get past the crowd of girls until I managed to get to the ladies' room and found that I seemed to be alone. But then I noticed two girls walked in, and snorted when they saw me, saying that I looked like a beached whale.

"It's no wonder that Gray asked you to come, he just felt sorry for you." One of them laughed as the other called me names I'd never heard of or wanted to hear again. Their claws reached out and began attacking my dress as I did my best to cover my face. Once I managed to get away I went outside and cried, wiping my tears away as I noticed the majority of girls were around Gray, he was trying to avoid them but to no avail. Thus I decided to get into the limo and asked if it was possible for him to take me home, but to make sure to come back to get Gray. He agreed, seeing I was quite distressed. And I went home; my mom was quite surprised to see me and thought I looked a wreck.

"Juvia, what happened?" She looked at me with a shocked expression. I looked down at my dress and felt my eyes tear up as I saw my dress was barely hanging on, I had scratches, my hair a mess, and my makeup completely ruined.

"It was awful! The girls the girls kept mocking me and-and they tore up my dress, I tried to get away but they they kept going on. They called me such horrible names." I couldn't stop crying; I fell on my knees as my mom comforted me. I didn't know the names of the girls and I didn't want anything to do with them, I knew it would only get worse. She kept insisting that I confront them but I pleaded, she told me to keep my spirits up and my grades up and to keep away from those girls. I nodded my head and went to change, suddenly I heard rocks being thrown against my window, but I ignored it, afraid it was those girls again. I hid under my blankets as my heart rate increased, suddenly I heard my window open and I heard footsteps, then felt a hand on my back as I froze.

"Hey, Juvia, what happened? You disappeared all of a sudden. Then the limo driver said you had him drop you off at home." Gray's voice was confused and concerned. I lifted the covers from over my head and turned toward him, I knew my eyes were puffy, red, and blood shot from the crying. He looked even more concerned and went to cup my face, but I turned away.

"Juvia, please tell me what happened, did I do something to upset you?" He asked as I turned away from him, feeling as though his gaze was burning through me.

"Nothing." Was all I could say.

"Nothing? I did nothing to upset you?" He asked sounding confused.

"Nothing." I repeated.

"What about anyone else, did anyone else upset you?" He asked almost pleadingly.

"Nothing." This time I sounded more disheartened.

"Juvia, I know you're lying. Please, I'm your friend." He implored as his sat on the bed, placing his hand on my arm as I felt myself remembering the threats if I continued associating with Gray.

"Just-just leave me alone Gray. I don't want to see you anymore." I said as he pulled away, and I noticed the window opened.

"Fine, but I'll always be here for you, even if you don't want me to be." He said as he went out the window, and as I heard it close, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks again as I cried myself to sleep.

"Oh look, if it isn't the little whore." They laughed, they all laughed and mocked me.

"Looks like you lost more than your date last night." They scoffed, and I hid. I went to my locker, got my things and went from class to class. I noticed Gray was avoiding everyone as well, but I was too afraid to talk with him. So I just did my work, focused, and did my best to ignore my peers. It was mainly the girls, who mocked me, and the majority of guys were trying to ask me out, but I simply walked away, ignoring every last one of them. And I found the more I ignored them, the more they ignored me too. Thus this was my routine, that and stalking Gray. Just because I wasn't allowed to be my friend didn't mean I wasn't allowed to keep my eye on him.

Girls, girls, girls, girls, and more girls! They kept surrounding him, but he gave them 'tude and simply walked away, and I hid. I noticed he went to the roof, but at first this was a bit of a surprise. I was reading one of my favorite books when I heard the door open and I felt my heart skip a beat, then I went around and found it was Gray, he was listening to music and had his back to the chain-link fence as I noticed he was looking over his shoulder looking out at the small forest over on the opposite side of town. Over the next few months, it was habit, he would stare over at the forest and I would watch him. I noticed that some days he was singing to his music, and very well at that.

One afternoon I found myself humming a somber tune as I heard the door to the roof open and I jumped up, turned around and saw him. He smiled at me and I felt as though I could have melted. As I tried avoiding him, he came into my space, pinning me in a corner as his lips were on mine. I moaned as he took my hands and pinned them above my head.

"I swear, nothing bad will ever happen to you when you're with me." He said in a raspy tone as I felt myself become weak in the knees.

"And what about the times I'm not with you?" I asked.

"That won't be a problem, because I'll always be with you." He smirked as I laughed, until his lips were on mine again, he let my hands go and they went straight for his hair, his went straight for my legs. When we did separate, we had to fix our clothes, but we walked back to class hand-in-hand, never fearing the possibilities ahead of us. We knew we had each other, and no one was going to get in the way of our happiness, not even cruel girls with worthless threats that didn't mean a thing when your boyfriend was a black belt in Karate and not the least bit timid about protecting his girlfriend from any harm. Life went on, and we lived on, singing to one another, loving one another, and most importantly appreciating the precious time we had together. Life is short and we didn't waste a single second of it.

End