Chapter Text
“Miles, you’re gonna be late!”
Jefferson Davis was a no-nonsense guy: he was an upstanding cop after all. Snd that meant he wasn’t going to take bullshit from anyone.
Especially not his son.
“One second, dad!” He heard his son yell from his room. Three and a half minutes later, the now-freshman emerged from his room.
“Look who decided to join the living.” Jeff remarked, grabbing his policeman hat. “Come on Miles. You don’t want to be late on your first day. Leave a good impression.”
After Rio gave each of them a double serving of kisses, they were on their way to Visions Academy.
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As per Miles’ request, Jeff dropped him off a block away from school, the reason being something along the lines of not getting embarrassed in front of dozens of stuck-up upper-class brats.
“Are you excited? First day in high school!” Jeff patted his son’s shoulder. “And not just any plain old high school, but the best one in the whole country!”
“Yeah, whatever. I just won a raffle.” Miles mumbled, dismissively.
Jeff sighed. His son was not going to develop imposter syndrome.
“Miles. Listen to me. You have as much of a right to be here than any other kid. Never forget that.” He glanced down at his phone. “Now, go, don’t be late!”
Miles got out of the car, and waved a goodbye to his dad, before hurrying to class.
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Miles walked down the endless corridors of the Visions dormitories, trying to find his room.
‘Does this say 814 or 614? Man, the printing’s all messed up!” He tried to decipher the keycard’s number. He decided to gamble on 614, and so he headed to the sixth floor.
After walking for what seemed like an eternity, with him carrying all his bags, he made it to the room. Miles tapped the keycard to the lock, only for the reader to blink with a red light.
“God damn it!” Miles cried out, as he sat down on the floor, and threw his back to the wall.
“What exactly were you doing at my dorm?” Miles heard a feminine voice from the hallway. He looked up and met the gaze of the prettiest woman he had ever seen. She had short, blonde hair with eyes so blue he could get trapped in them forever. But currently that face was very mad. More specifically, it was mad at him.
“I, uh got pretty lost.” He held up his keycard. “Couldn’t find my dorm.”
The anger disappeared from her face, and was replaced by confusion. “What do you mean? Didn’t you get your dorm number in the acceptation letter?”
Miles shook his head. “Never got it. My dad had to find out from the newspaper that I won the raffle. The guy responsible for my letter didn’t believe anyone from our district could get into the academy.”
While he was speaking, Gwen sat down next to him.
“That… wow.” She was silent for a second, as if contemplating something. She then stood up and picked up one of Miles’ bags, reaching out a hand to him. “Come on. I’ll help you with your bags.” Miles grasped at her outstretched hand, and stood up, noting the surprising strength her seemingly thin frame held.
“Thanks. I’m Miles by the way. Morales.” He smiled at her.
“Gwen Stacy.” She returned the smile.
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They chatted the whole way to Miles’ actual dorm, which was much easier, now that Miles only had to carry one heavy bag instead of two.
Reaching the dorm door, Miles put the bag down, and pulled out the card.
“Moment of truth.” He closed his eyes, and hesitated for a second, before ultimately pressing the card to the reader.
A moment later the reader beeped and Miles could hear the lock sliding back, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
Miles picked up the bag, and stepped into the dorm. His roommate has already moved in by the looks of it, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Do you need help unpacking?” Gwen offered. “I mean, classes are not starting until tomorrow, so it’s not like I have somewhere to hurry.”
Miles hesitated for a second, but then realised he shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to spend time with the first friendly face he met.
“That would be great, thank you.”
Miles started unpacking his clothes, saving himself from the embarrassment of someone else handling his underwear, and soon, both luggages were empty.
He was about to put his last shirt in the wardrobe, when he heard Gwen asking him about something she found.
“Is this your sketchbook?” She began flipping the pages, taking in all the different drawings and doodles Miles made.
“These are good! Like, very good!” Gwen handed back his sketchbook.
“Thanks.” Miles replied, face redder than a tomato. Gwen shot a smile at him, and sat down on the lower bunk of the bed.
“You know, I think have seen one of these around Brooklyn, do you do street art?”
“Yeah. With my Uncle Aaron.” Miles told her. “He knows the best spots for my murals to go on.”
They fell into a comfortable silence, but it was soon broken by Miles’ roommate entering.
He was clearly distracted, headphones blasting a song Miles didn’t recognise, while reading a comic book. He threw himself into the chair at the desk, spinning it around a few times.
Miles and Gwen glanced at each other, wondering when the other boy would notice them. It wouldn’t take long, because the chair stopped spinning, directly facing the pair on the bed. The guy slowly reached for his headphones, pulling it down to his neck, pausing the song, a dumbstruck expression on his face.
“Hi.” Gwen waved with an awkward smile.
Without a change in expression, he raised his hand to slowly wave back at her.
Sensing the awkward tension, Miles shot up, and grabbed the guy’s hand with both hands, shaking it.
“Hey, my name is Miles, and uh, I’m your new roommate, uh… yeah! Roommate!”
“Ganke.” He said awkwardly.
“And this is, Gwen.” He motioned towards the girl. “She’s uh…” he glanced at her, and smiled. When he saw Gwen return his smile, Miles turned back to Ganke. “She’s a friend.”
“Nice to meet you?” Ganke finally collected himself, his expression settling on a more relaxed one. “Sorry, just seeing two strangers casually sitting on my bed was a bit surprising.” Ganke then pointed at the bed. “And by that I also mean dibs on the bottom bunk.”
Gwen stood up. “All yours, Ganke.” She held her hands up. Then she felt her phone vibrate, she reached into her pocket to read the message, and her smile was immediately replaced by a frown.
“As much as I would love to stay, i have to go. My uh, my roommate needs me. Yep.” And with that, she went to the door, stopping in the doorframe, where she turned back to face Miles.
“See you around, Miles Morales.” And she proceeded to disappear from their sight.
“Bye.” Miles said, well over a minute after Gwen left.
“Dude.” Ganke said with an amused face. “Barely the first day and you already pulled a ba-“ the pillow flying at his face shut him up quickly.