Chapter One - Spider-Girl
Beca Mitchell sat with her back against a tree in the courtyard of Barden University, her headphones pressed against her ears and her laptop opened. The fall breeze of a new year was cool against her jeans. Her black top just thick enough to keep her warm. Leaves drifted from the tops of trees and covered the courtyard in a hue of orange and red, tinted by the sun. Still, the sky was blue and the courtyard was full of students from every year. New freshmen were getting dropped off by their parents and dragging their luggage all over campus while they looked for their dorm.
Overall, Beca was trying not to pay attention. She had a few more hours before she had to meet the other girls in the Quad for the activities fair and she wanted to get done with the mix she was working out before that. Only, she couldn’t focus. Her music was turned as high as it could go and she still couldn’t focus on it. No matter how many times she pressed her headphones to her ears, she could still hear the sorority girls giggling behind her and the slamming car doors from beyond the courtyard arch. Not only could she hear them but, they were also extremely loud and obnoxious, drilling in her ears. She couldn’t think without every sound in the courtyard destroying every thought she came up with. She could hardly hear her own music.
Memories of the night before flashed through her overworking brain. The slingshots of webs flying through the sky and the way it felt to be soaring through the Atlanta skyline. There was nothing like it. The freedom of jumping from building to building and running off rooftops surpassed any other feeling she knew. But with the freedom and capability to do all of it came the responsibility to help when she could hear the call. There was no ignoring it. She could hear everything and feel it like a sixth sense. When someone was in trouble, she could feel it. And if the memories weren’t enough, the bruises on her body were there to remind her too.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17626247/chapters/41558441