š¹rologue
summary Ā· jane has her first day of school, and because of the hustle and bustle of highschool doesn't notice what's brewing inside her. you finally get a fresh start.
watch out Ā· spiderman!jane remover, fem!reader, fluff, sfw, no ai used, profanity, requested, not an accurate depiction of any real-world individuals, places, or occurences
the first thing jane learned about her new school was that it was simply too big after she'd got dropped off at the wrong entrance and spent nearly ten minutes wandering through a hallway that, according to the paper map in her hand, should have led directly to the main office.
if you couldn't already tell, it didn't.
jane stopped beneath a sign advertising auditions for the fall play and unfolded the map for what had to be the sixth time.
"okay." a freshman hurried around her. "cool." someone's backpack clipped her shoulder. "awesome."
jane stared down at the paper. the little red star marked "YOU ARE HERE" had become significantly less helpful now that she had no fucking clue where "here" was. she turned the map sideways, and that didn't help either.
her phone buzzed in her pocket.
you find it?
her sister. jane glanced at the message, then at the identical walls stretching in either direction.
yeah
three dots appeared almost immediately.
liar
jane shoved her phone back into her pocket. she'd figure it out. probably. it was only school. that was what she'd been telling herself all morning, anyway. just school, just a new building, just new teachers, and just new people. she'd done harder things than walking into a classroom full of strangers. she'd been telling herself that while getting dressed, while tying and untying her shoes because the first knot looked weird, while standing in front of the bathroom mirror wondering if she should change shirts for the third time.
she'd been telling herself that right up until she walked through the front doors, and then her stomach had dropped.
jane wasn't shy. that was the annoying part. she could talk to people, make friends, and walk up to somebody and introduce herself without spontaneously combusting. none of that was technically difficult, but there was something uniquely horrible about knowing everyone around her already had a life here.
people called to each other from opposite ends of the hallway, someone ran up behind a girl and nearly tackled her in a hug, two guys were already arguing about something that had apparently happened over the summer. everybody seemed to know where they were going and who they were looking for.
jane knew nobody; so she kept her shoulders squared and walked like she did.
eventually, mostly through following a group of students who looked vaguely her age, she found the main office.
after that, things got easier and mundane. her first-period teacher mispronounced her last name. then, the girl beside her asked if she had an extra pencil before the teacher had even finished introducing herself, and jane handed one over despite knowing that she would never see it again.
second period was colder than first. third smelled faintly like bleach, and by lunch, jane had learned three things: the vending machine near the gym ate dollar bills, one staircase was apparently unofficially designated for making out, and she hated icebreakers.
"two truths and a lie," jane muttered, stabbing her fork into something the cafeteria staff had confidently labeled chicken although it looked far, far from it. "who invented that shit?"
"no idea." the girl across from her shrugged, looking at her phone.
"you think they're dead?"
"what?" she looked up.
"you know, whoever invented it."
she stared at jane.
"fuck. I hope so," jane poked the chicken again.
that got a laugh out of her, and, technically, depending on who you asked jane had made her first friend. discussing the death of the inventor of classroom icebreakers, yes, but she'd take it.
her name was april. or anna. she'd heard it correctly the first time, but then immediately started second-guessing herself, and now too much time had passed to ask without looking like an asshole.
she was in her third period, though, which meant hopefully she'd find out through attendance and was enough for her to recognize her sitting alone and drop her tray across from hers with a casual "you're jane, right?"
jane had liked her immediately for remembering.
they talked through most of lunch about nothing and everythingāteachers, schedules, which cafeteria meals were least likely to kill them. she told her which hallways got unbearably crowded between classes and warned her that the upstairs bathroom closest to the science wing had one stall that never locked. it was just normal things, but it helped.
by the time the bell rang, jane realized she'd gone almost twenty minutes without thinking about being new.
then she stepped into the hallway and immediately forgot which direction fourth period was.
"fuck."
she pulled the folded schedule from her back pocket while people streamed around her. room 214.
jane looked up and saw 209. okay, close, she thought as she started walking. 214 should beājane turned the corner and walked directly into you.
your shoulder hit hers, and the binder tucked against your chest slipped from your hands, hit the floor, and exploded into a thousand sheets of paper.
"oh, shit," jane crouched immediately. "sorry. fuck uhm, I'm sorry."
"no no no! you're good."
"no, that was totally my fault." she chuckled nervously.
"it's fine."
"it's not, I just assaulted you on the first day of school."
you laughed, and the sound made jane stop midway through grabbing a piece of paper.
it wasn't dramatic. the hallway didn't suddenly empty, and there wasn't a spotlight from heaven informing jane that you were important. you just laughed, and jane looked up, and her heart stuttered, and that was it.
you were crouched across from her, gathering papers into a messy pile, and for one incredibly stupid second jane forgot that she was supposed to be helping.
you looked new too, she thought absentmindedly. she couldn't explain exactly how she knew, though. maybe it was the folded campus map sticking halfway out of your binder, or maybe it was because she had spent the entire morning feeling like there was a flashing "NEW" sign floating over her own head and had learned to recognize the look.
"are you just gonna keep that one?" you joked.
jane blinked, and you flicked your eyes to her hand then back up again. unbeknownst to her, she was still holding one of your worksheets.
"oh."
smooth.
"yeah, actually. this is mine now."
"oh..."
"sorry."
"I worked really hard on putting my name on that." you said with a smile, letting a little faux sadness slip into your tone.
jane glanced at the top where your name was written. then, because apparently she couldn't function normally anymore, she looked at you and repeated it aloud.
your mouth twitched into a smile.
"yeah. that's... usually what people call me."
"right."
jesus christ.
"I'm jane." she handed it over.
"jane...?ā you trailed off, raising an eyebrow.
"yeah."
"just jane?"
she narrowed her eyes. "what, are you a cop or something?"
you laughed again, and there it was: that stupid little feeling in her stomach. jane decided it was definitely nerves.
"room 214?" you asked.
jane looked toward the classroom door beside you then at her schedule then back at you.
"yeah."
"me too."
"oh."
you stood, clutching your rescued papers against your chest.
"well, good thing I nearly killed you, then." jane said as she got up.
"yeah, otherwise I might've never found it. this place is way too big."
"exactly."
you reached for the classroom door, but jane got there first. she pulled it open and stepped aside, letting out a soft "after you."
"wow, how chivalrous." you dragged out the first word, giggling.
"I mean I did like almost break your binder. I kind of owe you."
"you didn't break it."
"still."
you walked past her, but before you got all the way in paused. "thanks, jane." and then you were gone.
she followed you inside. there weren't two seats together jane noticed immediately, which was stupid because she'd known you for like forty seconds. you went toward an empty desk near the windows, and jane ended up two rows behind you.
fourth period passed without anything interesting happening, and so did fifth, and sixth. by the final bell, jane was exhausted in a way that felt disproportionate for someone who'd spent most of the day sitting down.
she met back up with april-or-anna outside.
"you survive?"
"well I'm talking to you, so barely."
"I heard tomorrow's gonna be worse." she said sadly.
"why?"
"uh... I don't know."
jane stared.
"I just wanted to scare you," she laughed after a moment.
"dick."
"see you tomorrow, jane."
"yeah, later." she disappeared into the crowd.
jane adjusted the strap of her backpack and headed toward the doors. she saw you again outside only for a second. you were standing near the curb, looking down at your phone. someone moved between you, and by the time jane looked again, you were walking away.
she considered calling out, and then immediately wondered what the hell she would even say. what would be her opener, tripping you again?
no.
tomorrow.
maybe you'd be in another one of her classes, maybe she'd sit closer, maybe she'd ask if you wanted toāsomething landed on her wrist. before she could do anything about it, a spider was crawling across her skin.
"fuck," she shook her hand. it held on, and then came a tiny, sharp pinch.
jane slapped at her wrist on instinct. the spider fell somewhere onto the pavement, disappearing beneath the endless shuffle of shoes. when she looked down, she was met with two tiny red dots sat just below her palm.
"great." she rubbed at them with her thumb. she probably shouldn't have done that, but whatever. she'd wash it when she got home. jane pulled her sleeve down and forgot about it before she'd even reached the car.
when you got home, your room still didn't feel completely like yours. there were boxes against one wall that you hadn't bothered unpacking yet, and a couple pictures had made it onto your desk, but the walls were too empty.
you laid underneath your blankets, staring at the ceiling. your first day hadn't been bad. you'd found all your classes eventually, none of your teachers seemed completely unbearable, and you'd eaten lunch without making a complete idiot of yourself.
and then there was jane. you smiled slightly into your pillow. she was weird, sure, but she was funny and really, really pretty. you wondered if she'd talk to you tomorrow.
you hoped she would.
mostly though, you thought about everything else. a new school, and new people. a bedroom that would eventually stop feeling borrowed.
nobody here knew you well enough to have expectations yet. nobody had decided who you were supposed to be. for the first time in a while, you could start from zero.
you rolled onto your side.
tomorrow suddenly didn't seem so intimidating. it felt like a fresh start.
on the other side of town, jane couldn't sleep.
not because anything was wrong, no. she was just... thinking. her ceiling looked different at night as well, apparently, because it was interesting enough that she'd been staring at the same tiny crack above her bed for twenty minutes. at least, that's what she was telling herself.
tomorrow she'd have to do everything again: walk through the doors, find her classes and talk to people who might decide they didn't like her. also probably figure out whether her friend's name was april or anna before it became genuinely impossible to ask.
also see you.
her stomach did the thing again, and jane pulled her blanket over her head.
"oh my god."
this was embarrassing. she had known you for less than a minute.
she turned onto her side and shoved an arm beneath her pillow. her wrist itched, and she scratched it against the sheets. it was probably just a mosquito bite.
anyway, tomorrow would be easier. she knew where her classes were now, she knew at least one personāmaybe two, depending on whether nearly knocking someone over counted.
she closed her eyes.
her first day was over, and nothing terrible had happened. nothing particularly amazing had happened either. it had just been a day.
for you, that was enough to make tomorrow exciting.
for jane, it was enough to make tomorrow terrifying.
neither of you knew that by morning, everything would be very, very different.
