The Tune of Love (GaLe)

Chapter 1: Why?

With a sigh, I stroll to the music block. It's pretty far from where I am now and with my little legs it's hard to keep up with this surge of students. I find I'm constantly being whisked away in the crowd and end up somewhere I'm not trying to go.

I finally reach my music class just as the others are filing in through the door and I hurry to catch up. I was lucky this time, making it in just after the bell and having the teacher slightly late. I quickly took my seat in the back corner of the classroom and put on my reading glasses. Our teacher, Mr. Makarov, was fairly laid back but he doesn't tolerate students being disrespectful or late to class.

I stared out the window to the fairly quiet street outside. There were very little cars and I could see a small brown dog being taken for a walk by a hunched-over old man. Before I had realised it, I had zoned out completely. All of a sudden, all the students got out of their assigned seats and began walking over and chatting loudly with their friends. My heart began to beat nervously. I had no idea what was going on.
"Does everyone have a partner?" Our teacher asked. The class collectively answered with a loud "Yes!" And I was left alone, wondering where my friends had gotten off to today. Gee, couldn't Lucy have at least tried to show up to school? My head dashed around to find someone without a partner. Someone. Someone I knew. I heard a short grunt from behind me. I turned around to see a troublemaker from my History class.
"Looks like we're stuck with each other." Gajeel smirked. I could not have been less satisfied with this turn of events. I nodded slightly in agreement.

"Alright kiddos, make it quick. This project is due by next week. You will have two in-class lessons to finish it after this, the rest is up to you." Mr. Makarov clapped his hands twice signalling us to get to work.
"What are we doing?" I nervously asked the boy standing in front of me.
"Weren't you listening, Shortie? We've gotta compose a song by the end of next week." I glared at him. How dare he call me short. It was just he who was abnormally tall. I huffed and turned away, crossing my arms.
"As if I'm working with you!" I scoffed.
"I'm not exactly happy with this either. You'll probably want to sing some girly shit about love and broken hearts!" He retorted.
"Yeah well..!" I was lost for a comeback. He hadn't been correct but I hadn't the energy to argue with him. He smiled with a small chuckle. It hadn't occurred to me just how many piercings he had... They were everywhere. I stared at his face intently, trying to count them.
"What're you looking at?" He glared at me.
"A loser." I wasn't entirely satisfied with this comeback but it was better than nothing and, if nothing else, it shut him up. He placed his notebook on the desk next to mine and began to scribble tablature on the lines. Gajeel's specialty was the electric guitar. I wasn't going to lie, he was really good and he wasn't a bad singer either. That didn't stop him from being rude though. I could play the keyboard or piano but not very well. I was better at singing and songwriting. Gajeel slapped his book down on my desk and I looked at the piece in front of me.
"Good, eh?" Gajeel was so full of himself.
"Not bad, it could be improved on though." I wasn't going to let him get off easy with this one. If my marks were jeopardised because of his lazy attitude, I don't know what I'd do. He pushed the chair out and walked over to grab a guitar off the wall and take a seat on the amplifier. Without even asking for the music he had written, he began to play it perfectly. As he played, lyrics came to me. "Da da du dum da du dum dada dum dum." I recited as I worked on the rhyme of the lyrics. I had just jotted down words and rhymes rather than lyrics that would work fully. I would work on it later.
"You done, shrimp?" He asked impatiently.
"I wanna get this thing done on time." He groaned at my delay.
"Shush! I'm trying to make it good quality." I scolded and went back to my writing. It was a hard tune to work with. Aside from that, Gajeel showed a clear dislike toward my songwriting. I was trying to write something we could both work with and be happy with. With our clashing personalities, that would be hard. Why couldn't Lucy be here today?
"Lucy, where are you?" I whined.
"Gi-hi. It looks like poor o'l Natsu is gonna be stuck with your friend." Gajeel laughed. I hadn't noticed it but his friend had been away also. No wonder we ended up having to be partners.

The other students had all paired up with their closest friends which was unfortunate for me who didn't have anyone else in the even-numbered class. It was strange that both Natsu and Lucy were absent on the same day though... Neither of them ever take days off unless they're dying sick or, in Natsu's case, suspended for breaking things and lighting fires. Rumours spread like wildfire in this school and two people being away on the same day was dangerous.

Before I knew it, Gajeel had been behind me, looking over my shoulder at my work.
"Hurry up, shrimp." He was just overusing those nicknames to annoy me now.
"My name is Levy McGarden! Don't get it wrong next time!" I huffed in anger.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, shrimp." This guy knew exactly how to make me angry and he was doing a very good job of it.