Chapter Text
1991
New York
Jane has always prided herself on being a calm, patient person.
When Max, trying to make an unsuccessful maneuver on her skateboard, fell on top of Jane's geography model destroying a two-month job, the girl did not freak out. When her foster father, Hopper, was late for the sixth time to pick her up at school leaving her in the rain for at least forty minutes, she did not cry or shout. When she heard a group of girls speaking ill of her in the sixth grade bathroom, Jane did not interrupt them. He waited for the gossip to come to an end and left the cabin with her head held high and a golden aura of calm around her.
But her neighbors destroyed every self-control she had.
When Jane moved into an apartment near the campus of her college, she thought she would have quiet. Max was a good roommate, left her mess inside her own room and listened to music using her headphones, leaving the girls' apartment great for Jane to study. She was happy with the choice. It was a beautiful building, in a nice, quiet neighborhood, perfect for a student engaged in her grades.
Until they arrived and the quiet was over.
Her new neighbors lived in the same corridor as she and Max. On that floor there were only three apartments, one of which was occupied by the tenant for only a few months of the year. This meant that only Jane, Max, and the four boys from the apartment ahead lived. And God, they fussed over her nerves.
First of all they would yell at each other constantly. It was not always fights, actually. The walls were thin and although the apartment was of a medium size, they made a point of shouting at each other at every opportunity they had, making their voices echo through the floor.
"DUSTIN, HAVE YOU SEEN MY BOOKS?"
"LUCAS, STOP PUTTING YOUR CLOTHES EVERYWHERE!"
"WILL, IT'S YOUR TURN TO WASH THE DISH!"
"MIKE, YOUR SISTER IS ON THE PHONE!".
Second there were the damn movie marathons they did. Every weekend, while Jane tried to do homework, she was interrupted by damn space-craft noises and lasers shouting through every damn building. And they were not content to watch only one movie. They watched the whole saga! It was hours and hours of roaring and screaming until the hours of dawn until the silence lasted for a few seconds and they decided to start discussing - loud and clear - the best parts of the film.
And finally there were the parties. Those damn fucking parties.
It started out as a small gathering of friends who showed up at one time or another in their apartment. Jane tried not to get her head on it, she did not want to be a boring neighbor after all. There was nothing wrong with calling some friends to a visit. If she had more friends than Max she would definitely do the same.
But the number of friends was increasing. Increasing and increasing and increasing until every damn campus had already been in that hallway. They screamed and drank, they broke things, the music was so loud that the ground shook. There were so many people who did not fit in the apartment and they stood in the hall, laughing and talking so loudly that Jane did not hear her own thoughts. The wretches even stood on her doorframe because there was no more space on the floor! They smashed drink on the front rug, rang the bell to use her bathroom!
Today was the last straw for her. The girl did not understand why she let the situation get so ugly. She did not know why she did not complain earlier...
Okay, actually she did.
It was because of him.
That damned adorable curly-haired boy, who was almost triple her height and wore the cutest sweaters she'd ever seen. She saw him sometimes when she went to get the letters, or to wash clothes or when they came screaming in the elevator and she looked through the magical eye of her door. He was a cutie, with his freckles and a shy smile. They never talked and in fact she thinks he never even saw her. The girl did not know which one he was - Dustin, Will, Mike or Lucas - but the way she was all red and embarrassed close to him was enough for Jane to avoid as much contact as possible.
But now she could not take it. It was almost two o'clock in the morning on a damn Thursday, and she had a most important test in two days. It does not matter if one of the neighbors is the most cute boy she has ever seen, they need to shut up and go to sleep!
Opening her door, she bumped into some of the teenagers who were too close to her apartment. She did not mind closing the door carefully, for Max slept like a rock and would not wake up with any noise. She marched to their apartment and entered through the open door, arms crossed and face red with anger. Where were these bastards?
The music was so loud that El's head was already starting to hurt. She tried to walk a little deeper into the apartment, but there were so many people that she was just being squashed. Jane was small so it was hard to get people to see that she was there, trying to pass. After a few minutes, when she was about to give up, she saw a familiar cap and recognized one of the boys - the most talkative of all - giving drinks to the guests.
She marched up to him and nudged his shoulder. He turned and his eyes flashed with recognition. When she opened her mouth to give him a sermon, the boy shouted,
"You came!".
Jane was speechless for a second, confused. What?
"Yes, you came!" her neighbor continued to scream with a huge smile. He grabbed her by the shoulders and began to push her through the party, without giving her the chance to speak. "Come, come, girl, do you have any idea how much work I had to get you out of your cave?"
"What?" Jane asked, stabbing her feet and preventing him from pushing her any further. "Sorry, but I think you're confusing me with someone."
"No, I'm not!" he replied as if she were dumb. "You are our neighbor, the mysterious and beautiful brunette who does not leave the apartment for nothing and was starting to leave me with no ideas."
"Look, I do not know what you're talking about, I came to ask you to turn off the music and go to bed," she said, her temper growing. The boy, however, seemed even more pleased.
"Damn, I knew the plan was going to work. What's your name?"
She looked at him for a few seconds wondering how much he drank.
"... Jane" replied for a few seconds as if he were an idiot.
"Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jane, I'm Dustin, and I'm so glad you finally showed up".
He grabbed her hand and began to drag her across the sea of people. Jane tried to stop him, but he was much bigger than her.
"Hey, I do not want to meet anyone, I did not come to the party. Are you listening to me? It's two o'clock in the morning and you need to learn to be quiet. Excuse me!".
They reached the kitchen and Dustin pushed her forward. Someone was stirring in the refrigerator, hidden behind the door.
"Hey, Mike, I have a surprise for you!" shouted Dustin pushing her a little farther forward and fled quickly from the kitchen. Jane turned to where he ran, ready to yell at him when she heard the refrigerator door close and a male voice say, "holy shit."
She turned and froze in place.
Oh no.
No no no no.
It's him.
In all his six-foot glory, with two bottles of vodka in his hand, staring at her wide-eyed. Jane suddenly felt very self-conscious about her bare feet, pajama pants, thin-sleeved blouse, and uncured curly hair. God, please, that she remembered to put on a bra. They stood like that for a few minutes, looking at each other with their faces flushed until he began to speak:
"Er ... I ... Hi."
"Hi ..." she replied, the anger she felt earlier being replaced by shyness.
"You ... you're our neighbor, right?"
"...Yes".
"Cool".
Silence for a few more seconds. He looked as shy as she and Jane wanted to laugh like a little girl how cute he looked.
"My name is Mike. Short for Michael," he said suddenly.
"I'm Jane, just Jane," she said with a giggle. He smiled back and Jane felt her whole body blush. Mike raised an arm to shake her hand, but suddenly he remembered he was holding two bottles.
"Oh," he exclaimed, placing the bottles on the counter that led into the living room. "Sorry about that. Are you enjoying the party?". It reminded her of why she was there.
"Not really," she said. "I came to ask you to turn the sound off. I can not hear my own thoughts in my apartment."
"Fuck," cursed Mike looking extremely embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that. I told Dustin that these parties were a bad idea, but he's stubborn and not a good listener."
"I know" she replied, leaning against the wall. "He did not take my complaints too seriously."
Mike leaned against the sink in front of her. He had long legs.
"I'm sorry," he replied with a shrug. "You and your friend probably hate us."
"Well ..." said Jane, suddenly embarrassed to admit that she was very angry with them. "We do not hate you, Max sleeps like a rock. The third war could explode in our living room, which would not affect her sleep. You are just a little... well, very noisy. The walls are thin, I can hear everything that you talk in my apartment. "
Mike blushed even harder and looked down at his feet. He seemed to know something she did not know.
"God, this is embarrassing," he moaned. "Again, I'm sorry. I will stop them from making noise from now on. I promise."
She believed his promise and smiled. The butterflies in her stomach were enraged as he smiled back.
Suddenly. Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" started ringing and Jane squealed.
"I love that song!" she exclaimed.
"Me too," Mike commented, moving closer to her. "Will usually stays on the sound. He has a good taste in music."
"I know. I kind like it when you guys play The Clash."
"We love The Clash!" smiled Mike. Jane smiled back.
They kept talking till they lost track of time. When the clock struck nearly four o'clock in the morning, the couple were sitting on the kitchen floor side by side while Mike laughed at the story Jane was telling.
"I swear! Max simply thought it would be a great idea to dress up the Halloween villain for the party and suddenly appear in the living room window, and the whole party left the house screaming so loudly that the neighbors called the police!".
"Oh my God," Mike replied, holding his stomach from laughing so hard.
"Yeah, and my dad was the city sheriff, I still have shivers when I remember the look he gave us that night."
"We have to introduce her to Lucas. He's terrified of horror movies, I'm sure she can give him a heart attack."
"She'll love it," Jane laughed. "Lets make it happen".
"Yes ..." Mike replied, suddenly looking very enthusiastic. I turned to her and looked into her eyes. "Lets make it happen".
Sunddenly, a tall black boy appeared, interrupting them both. He looked a bit drunk and staggering.
"Hey, Mike, the party's over. You can help me collect the-" he started, but stopped when looked over Jane. "Damn it, she's here? I thought Dustin was joking!"
Mike blushed quickly and Jane frowned.
"Why does everyone seem to be thrilled that I'm here?" she asked. Mike opened his mouth to say something, but Lucas interrupted.
"Because we give the parties so that you can come !" answered. Maybe he was more drunk than he looked.
"Lucas, shut up," Mike murmured.
"But I'm serious," Lucas replied. "We've been trying to get your attention and your redheaded friend for months! But you two are hard to get out of the apartment!"
"Okay, Lucas, I think you'd better go to bed," exclaimed Mike, rising suddenly and shoving Lucas away from the kitchen. When he returned, Jane was standing, leaning against the sink, her arms folded.
"Mike ..." she said. "What are he talking about?"
He looked down at his own feet and then up, as if asking for divine help. He looked at her, still thinking about what to say, but when he saw her eyebrow lifted, he sighed.
"We ... Well, I ... I mean, Dustin ..." he stammered. "Oh fuck, we kind of wanted to talk to you and Max, but we did not know how to get your attention. Dustin came up with this stupid talk that if we can not go for you then we should bring you here, so...".
"You started making noise until I came to fight with you," Jane concluded. The way Mike avoided looking into her eyes was enough response. "And 'we' are all of you?"
"Well... no," Mike blushed. "It's me and Lucas. He has this huge crush on your friend."
Jane approached him, making him lean against the wall.
"And you?".
"What?".
"Do you have a huge crush on my friend?".
Mike blushed to the roots of his hair so hard he looked like he was going to be sick.
"No! No, no ... I ... I kind of have ... a huge crush on you?"
She giggled, suddenly feeling very brave. Maybe it was because she did not slept for hours and her mind was not working properly anymore. Or it was the hours she spent talking to him that made her think he was the coolest guy in the world.
"Is that a question?" she teased.
"No," he sighed. "It's a statement."
The two remained silent and Jane decided that she would have twenty seconds of insane courage. She came to him and stood on the tip of her foot, kissing him on the mouth.
It was a quick, simple, warm kiss. Just a light touch that made their hearts race.
"I'm happy," she replied. "But the next time you want to talk to us, just ring the bell. Good night, Mike."
She turned and left. Mike stayed frozen for a few seconds, until he slid down the wall and sat on the floor. He jumped merrily in the air and shouted,
"Hey, Dustin!"
"What?"
"You are a genius"
"I know".