Chapter Text
Jeanette raced to the bus stop down the busy street. It was her first day at the new school and she almost didn’t make it on the bus. As she sat down, she sighed and continued to listen to her music. Her parents were usually busy so they couldn’t drive her to school. But since Jeanette had just moved she hadn’t exactly gotten the bus times or route right. She kept checking her phone to make sure she was on the right bus. The bus wasn’t too crowded, but she could tell it was an older bus, since the cushion on the seat was nonexistent. After about 25 minutes she heard the bus announcing it’s route end. The bus made its way to a park near the school. Once the bus stopped, Jeanette got off and thanked the bus driver. She took a deep breathe in to smell the morning air. Jeanette daunted to the entrance of the school. The trees had no leaves and honestly looked dead, but Jeanette saw the tiny buds growing at the ends of branches. The sidewalk was nicely paved like it had just been redone. She turned off her music when she got closer to the school.
The school had one main building with two wings attached on either side. At least that's what the map Jeanette printed out looked like. Looking up from her neatly folded map, there were teenagers all around the courtyard trickling into school. I wonder if I’ll make any friends , she thought to herself. Why even put myself out there after what happened.
“You lost?” An unfamiliar male voice asked behind her.
“Oh yea, do you know where Room 379 is?” Jeanette said with an energetic tone.
“Yep.” Popping the P. “That’s the Science Hall. I’ll take you to it.” He said pointing on the map then gesturing to the doorway.
As they entered the school, Jeanette felt her anxiousness rise. Get a Grip. She yelled at herself trying to psych herself up. Just breathe, just act normal. The school hallways were packed with other students. She looked towards the unknown guy. He was pretty tall and he didn’t have bad looks either.
“I’m Peter” He said with confidence.
“Jeanette.” She smiled and held out her hand. Peter gave her a quick puzzled look before shrugging it off and shaking her hand.
They continued through a never ending hallway and unfamiliar faces giving Jeanette looks as she walked. Geez is there something on my face? Was that handshake too forward? Jeanette questioned as she wiped her face. She then paused for a moment thinking back to The Incident and continued to walk before anyone noticed.
“So did you just move here?” Peter asked. Jeanette snapped her head toward Peter.
“Yea. I actually lived here a while ago before we moved to California, but now I’m back” Jeanette said with a smile.
“Tsk.” Peter glanced towards the side of the hall and put his hand in his pockets. Jeanette frowned a bit.
“So what year are you in?” She said with an even bigger smile.
“I’m a senior.” Peter grumbled.
“...” Jeanette took a hint that this guy didn’t want to talk to her anymore. So much for a normal conversation. The two continued to walk in silence until they reached Room 379. It’s a new school. They shouldn’t know about that.
“Here we are” He said with an annoyed tone.
Before going inside Jeanette thanked him. Peter mumbled something and he walked away. Jeanette took another deep breath before she opened the door. Jeanette scanned the class room. It was like any regular classroom. It had nice big windows and tables with two seats at each. Some tables had sinks and gas nozzles. She looked for an open seat and was about to sit down when she saw there were assigned seats. Oh great. She thought to herself.
Once she had found her seat, Jeanette put down her bright Adidas backpack. What was with that guy's problem. He was super nice and then he gave me the cold shoulder. It was probably my fault. And just when I thought I found someone to eat lunch with. Jeanette slowly looked over to the now person occupied seat.
“Hi, I’m Jeanette.” Jeanette abruptly said. She then put out her hand again. Please don’t think I’m weird. Please don't think I'm weird. Why am I even doing this? It was so awkward be- Before Jeanette knew it, the girl next to her reached out and shook her hand.
“Hi, I’m Daphne!” She said with a perk in her tone. “Oh my god! I love your hair. It’s so long and pretty. What do you use?” She exclaimed. Then proceeded to pick up her hair.
“Oh nothing really. What about you?” Jeanette inquired with another smile.
The two continued to talk about hair products and clothes for a while. Daphne had long hair as well and was wearing her Cheer leading uniform. Jeanette assumed that Daphne was pretty strong since being on the team. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side, if she even has one. Jeanette could also tell that she was using her fake voice like when talking to strangers or customers when working a job. She knew from experience.
“Okay everyone quiet down” The teacher said. Finally, I thought she would never stop talking. Jeanette thought to herself after that boring conversation. “I hope you all had a good winter break. And since it is the first day back from break, we won't be having any homework.” Some of the students started clapping and making noise. Jeanette saw the board had the teachers name on it. So this is Mrs. Evans, huh. Mrs. Evans gave them a glare and the students became quiet. “But we will be going over what we are going to learn this semester and review from last semester, since we have a transfer student” She happily.
Everyone in the class looked towards Jeanette. Damn why did she have to call me out like this. Jeanette stood up and said in a cheerful voice, “Hi guys! I’m Jeanette Johnson. I just moved here from California”. Everyone in the class clapped as Jeanette sat back in her chair. “Well thank you for that wonderful introduction. Turn to page 35 and get a ready to take notes” Mrs. Evans said while she turned to the board.
The day went by in a flash. Luckily (or maybe not), Jeanette had PE class with Daphne and went to eat lunch with her after Biology class. Jeanette met a lot of Daphne’s friends during lunch, but hadn’t memorized any of their names. Jeanette had Physics with Mr. McGee for 3rd and History with Ms. Harris for 4th. The other teachers hadn’t forced her to introduce herself to the rest of the class, but some students noticed that she was new and started talking to her. Jeanette didn’t really like meeting all these new people, since she had met Daphne. It was overwhelming to see so many new faces. After school she waved goodbye to her new “friends” and made way to the bus. While waiting for the bus. Jeanette sat down. Why did I decide to take two science classes? The bus came to the stop a couple seconds later.
Jeanette made her way home after getting off the bus. As she entered her front door, she yelled, “I’m home!”, so her parents could hear. In the distance she could hear her parents welcome her home. Jeanette ran upstairs to her room and quickly sat down to review her notes in her backpack. Wow. She thought to herself as she looked at her scribbled notes. Jeanette’s notes were not bad at all, but she didn’t understand any of the stuff on her papers. She sat back and sighed. Well, I guess that was my first day back.
Jeanette decided to be early to school the following day. She looked over the class rooms on her map and shoved it back into her backpack. So I have Calculus, Literature, and then Programming. And I guess I have an off period, that's pretty cool, but will I see anyone I know? Jeanette thought about her plan for the 4th period for a while until the bell rang and ran to her first class.
Nothing really eventful happened during Jeanette’s classes. She took notes. Then wrote down assignments due next class. Repeat for the second period. People were very friendly towards her, which was nice to say the least, but she knew it was all artificial. Lunch, which she sat with Daphne and her group. Jeanette finally got the names of Daphne’s friends. There was Anna or Annabelle, who had the baggy chill vibe going on, but really contrasted her personality (short temper); Taliyah, a part of the Cheer leading team and was really self conscious. And then there was Ellie, who was kind of self absorbed with a dash of entitlement. The four of them just talked about past boyfriends and Cheer.
After lunch Jeanette headed towards her Programming class and she could tell something was off. When she walked into class everyone looked towards her with a confused and annoyed look. Do I have food on my face? Jeanette blushed and quickly found her seat. What is with everyone’s attitude? Maybe I should try to be more outgoing. When another student sat next to Jeanette, she pulled out her hand for a welcoming handshake.
“I’m Jeanette” She said with a smile and peppy voice.
The student just looked away and shrunk down. Did I do something wrong? For some reason Jeanette was a little offended, even though she knew she wasn’t going to be bestfriends with everyone in her class, it still stung a little knowing that they were avoiding her. I guess this is what I get. Class suddenly started and all Jeanette could think about was the aura her classmates were giving off. Class ended after what felt like hours. None of Daphne’s friends or Daphne herself had this off, Jeanette went off to explore more of the school. The hallways weren’t too long after all. Whenever Jeanette found a new area of the school she would look at the room numbers just in case.
After a while Jeanette looked down at her phone and saw that it was 4pm. Damn. How could I forget the time. Jeanette's face heated up as she panicked. Her pace went to a speed walk to a jog and suddenly turned into a sprint to find an exit. She couldn’t find one, she was officially lost. She wasn’t horrible with directions, but since her map didn’t have anything labelled, she was kind of stuck. After a bit of wandering, Jeanette gave up and started looking for someone to help her. The bus doesn’t come for another 30 minutes, so I have nothing to worry about…. Right? She texted her parents saying she might be late coming home.
A couple minutes later, Jeanette found the art room. She peered in. There was someone painting a bear-like figure. She took a few steps into the classroom to get a better look. The person turned around suddenly.
“Oh look it’s Miss Popular.” Jeanette saw that it was Peter. Of course it’s him.
“Miss Popular? Come on, I’m just a new student” Jeanette waved her hand nonchalantly.
“No. No. I saw you hanging around The Group.” Peter said with a grin on his face.
“The Group?” Jeanette asked, confused.
“Yea Daphne and her friends .” Peter then proceeded to do air quotes with his hands.
“You know, you shouldn’t really judge them,” What a hypocrite! Jeanette berated herself. “You probably don’t even know them that well.” Jeanette said with a little more dismissive.
“Says the new student , huh” Peter whispered under his breath.
“What did you say?!” Jeanette exclaimed and then had gone pale. Realization of what she just said hit her like a bus.
“Wow. So little Jeanie isn’t afraid of talking back to her peers? I guess I misjudged you.” Peter snickered.
Jeanette then pushed Peter aside before someone would notice her true side. Peter gives a shocked face as she pushes him against the window. “Really Jeanie. Who gives you the right to give me a nickname?” Jeanette loosens her grip and puts her hand on her hips. Peter then shrugged it off with a quiet snicker. “You think this is funny, huh?” Jeanette says with straight eye contact. They stay like that for a while until the art teacher, Mr. Lopez, comes in.
“Peter? What are you still doing here?”
“Oh Mr. Lopez, I was jus-”
“He was just showing me around, I got kinda lost” Jeanette cuts him off with her peppy voice and fake smile.
“Okay, I’ve got to clean up a bit. You two should head home, it's getting pretty late.” Mr. Lopez says shoo-ing them away.
Peter and Jeanette leave the classroom and Peter gestures down the hallway. They both start walking in silence for a bit. Jeanette was a bit frazzled from putting up that act in front of Mr. Lopez. Why did that teacher have to interrupt us? Gosh his eyes…. UGH what AM I even saying. What is going on here, Brain? Jeanette then slapped herself. She looked over to Peter and he looked back with a confused face. When they finally reach the entrance of the school, Peter quickly walks to his bike.
“Thanks by the way” Jeanette waves her hand and shows him her real smile. Peter looks away and pedals home.
When Jeanette gets home, she tells her parents about her day, including why she was late to dinner. After all the questioning, Jeanette heads to her bedroom and slumps in her office chair at her desk. She dropped her backpack and took a deep breath. Ugh why did I do that? Now he knows that I put up an act. At least he doesn’t know why. Hopefully he’ll never know.