Chapter Text
A bright white light embellishes the stage, illuminating the spacious area of Lake Braddock's auditorium. The glare reveals every minute detail, its shine quite intense. The audience's faded blue chairs showed signs of long neglect. Dirty streaks had slowly accumulated on the walls since the school's debut. One light dominates the space, its power a testament to the wonders of quantum physics.
The room falls silent. Every eye is fixed on the podium.
Principal McAllister delivers a generic speech about his love for his students. Jecka knows what he's actually thinking: he's heartbroken he'll never get to sleep with any of them again. She was also disappointed she never got the chance to sleep with him. The reason wasn’t attraction, but instead unfiltered curiosity. People constantly mocked his boomerang-shaped…she didn’t want to finish the sentence. The more she thought about it, the less it seemed like a missed opportunity.
Towards the end of McAllister's rambling, he ordered all the seniors to begin their walk across the stage front. The first student trips over a microphone extension cord and falls right on his face. Jecka presumed he didn't want to be a laughing stock, so he jumped up with swiftness.
….Too Late.
One of Jecka's friends shoved her from behind to get her to start walking, making her even more inclined to laugh at this screw-up.
Each student stood in a straight line in uncomfortable, outdated long robes, dreading the inevitable singing of the Vitamin C Graduation Song. The line began to walk along the side perimeters of the auditorium, each second becoming more humiliating than the last.
Just one more day, Jecka Grimaced. She was so close to being completely done with the hellscape she described as high school. She was starting to believe that the only reason it's called high school in America, as compared to every other place in the world, is because students did so many drugs to get high that it was concerning if many had already reached heaven.
...Some did.
“Do you remember when Sky tried to overdose to convince his girlfriend to stay with him?”
Elizabeth asks.
“Underdose, actually” Julie corrects. “He failed to kill himself.”
Jecka turns to her friends, amused by the absurdity of the situation. But this isn't the time to dwell on it. They're at graduation, after all.
“Could you both just shut the fuck up?” Jecka shouted.
Heads spun around to face the trio of girls, who all decided the best course of action was to start walking as fast as possible towards their destination. Once everyone had reached the stage, it was time to get into formation for the ever so scary vitamin C song. Jecka; however, knew that right before they would begin singing, she needed to do ONE thing.
….Deliver a heartfelt speech on why she’s valedictorian.
Jecka felt a bit bad. In actuality she pretty much didn't earn it, rather her parents didn’t want her to look like a disappointment, so they decided to buy her way up. She wasn’t quite sure if it was legal...white privilege was a blessing. Principal Mcalister called her up in front of the group, ushering her towards the podium. Her footsteps felt so heavy in the air of silence that was becoming ever more apparent. Everyone started to look at her expectantly. They treated her like she was High-school’s Jesus. It made her slightly uncomfortable, not because she was nervous. No, Jecka definitely wasn’t going to waste her nerves at a highschool fucking graduation. She just wanted to get it over with.
...though maybe she could have actually written the speech.
Jecka traced her thumb along the stand. Her eyes began trailing figures of each and every teacher who had wronged her. There was the one who reported her for using Percocets in class, and the one who called her mother over something as minor as skipping class, as if they genuinely wanted her to come in the first place. It all seemed insane to her.
Jecka opens her mouth and delivers the first word of her valedictory–
“You fucked my boyfriend!”
Everyone’s body shifts towards the direction of the distinct yelling that did not come from Jecka.
“You were having sex with my grandfather!”
A dirty blue shirt begins charging upstage, a student almost nobody couldn’t recognize for anything. She was charging at the local student drug dealer. They really were getting into drama on her last day of school? That’s so unnecessarily targeted, Jecka thought. Regardless of the commotion, and the police jumping into action to break up the fight on the right, she was going to deliver her speech and get the hell out of dodge.
That is until she realized…
If chaos had already broken out, nobody would have noticed if she expressed her true feelings about high school, right?
Jecka seized the opportunity she saw before her. With everyone focused on the altercation, it didn’t matter what she decided to say in her speech. In fact, nobody would even have to know that she hadn't written her speech.
Tap, tap, tap.
Jecka began nervously tapping her finger on the podium. Well, not nervously, as she was not nervous about her fucking high school graduation speech. She was just thinking of the perfect time to cut into the chaos.
“Ah, screw it, ” she said in her mind. They were no longer the Class of '09; they were graduates. Who cares what the fuck anyone thinks of them after this day? Jecka grabs the microphone, making a god awful noise that would make a deaf-man cry. It grabs the majority’s attention, at least.
“Listen up, I don’t care about this valedictorian shit or whatever, so I’m just going to say what exactly has been on my mind for the past four years. Mr. Fucking prin-ci-pal shouldn’t have a job unless it involves serving jail time. Or maybe a male prostitute, but for old people. ”
Most attention turns towards the tanned blonde, it’s unknown whether people actually cared to listen or if the screech of the microphone was enough to dispute the quarrels.
“What the fuck is she doing?” Julie murmurs under her breath.
“....But who cares if you fuck your students, as long as it’s an A-plus, it doesn’t matter if they’re A minor.”
The principal sends a police officer to end the blasphemy.
“Nobody gives a damn about high school, not even the teachers. Mr. Jones, why did you want me to come to class so badly? You were always on myspace finding hot women in your area. Yet, you never asked why your relationships always ended with people asking for breaks. Ironic, isn’t it?” Jecka adds with more confidence in her voice.
Snickering started to fill in the room. Students switched attention between the ongoing fight, and the questionable speech.
“Oh right, I can’t forget the sex-women of the hour! Mrs. Johnson, how fun was it sleeping with the entire football team? I’m surprised you're still here, actually. I was almost about to ask why you even wanted a job teaching high school, until I remembered that if you worked anywhere else it’d be harder to find underage boys. Quite the eye-catching predator, aren’t you? I guess if you’re hot it makes it okay.”
Heavy stomping. The ground begins to quiver as a 6 ft male police officer storms up on stage at the principal’s request. He and Jecka make eye contact, but Jecka is determined to finish off her speech on a bang…, hopefully not actually, as she isn’t quite sure whether this police officer has a gun and would prefer not to find out.
“To all the fellow students that reside with me in hell, know that we are no longer held within the walls of highschool, we can do whatever the fuck we want as long as we manage to avoid trouble with law enforcement! You're free from the system that's held you slave to working on shit like homework and assignments, and if you’re a rich bitch like me, maybe you’ll never have to work a day in your life again!”
This was it. This was the last time she'd have to feel trapped in this awful place. The last time she'd have to smell the fresh scent of shit in the Public bathrooms. The last time she'd have to wear this stupid fucking robe. Jecka adjusted her mic, took a deep breath, and delivered the last line of her improvised monologue.
“We’re no longer class of 09…no, we’re fucking graduates of 09.”
---
…That was what jecka said during her last day of highschool.
How stupid she believed she had been to genuinely think that she was free from the customs of school when she literally filled out admission work to attend college. Not just any college either, but the University of Virginia. The college has a nineteen percent admissions rate. The college she’d have never attended if it wasn’t for Daddy's money and a tinge of privilege.
Now it was her first day of her new educational prison. She was supposed to have moved into her dorm a few days before classes started, but she had procrastinated. Now she was stuck moving in before on the first day of class. Jecka cursed herself out in her head. She was walking at a fast pace and was becoming increasingly agitated at the gentle breeze and the leaves flowing into her hair. The peaceful atmosphere completely contrasted her uneasy composition as she tried to locate the right dorm building.
Her family had decided to pay her college tuition; however, now she was going to be living similar to a broke bitch, at least in her perception. She couldn't ask her family for money as it all went to the college. All she could hope was that she could find a job and live a perfectly acceptable normal life.
…without her percocets.
Jecka wasn't addicted to drugs. She didn't like just any run-of-the-mill drug. If someone offered her weed or Cocaine, she'd sincerely decline. She just liked one specific type of drug and preferred to be on it at all times. Percocets, that's it. If she ever decided that it wasn't for her, she could easily go cold turkey without issue. Wait, isn't cold turkey an addict ter-
“Good evening, Jessica.”
Hearing her actual name instead of Jecka will never not gross her out. She'd even prefer her last name to being called Jessica. The name Jessica made it sound like she was a housewife with kids and a husband who was gay, someone who’d complain to the neighbors about their husband being bad in bed and longing for the touch of Jesus christ. What the fuck was I thinking? Jecka questioned.
That didn’t sound like someone with the name Jessica, that sounded like someone with the name kelly.
“Good evening…you are?” Jessica remarks, which ends up coming out more like a statement than a question. She was trying to work on her perceived high-school mean-girl tone, but she was still far away from sounding like a sweet person.
“The RA, Mrs. Lynn.”
Jecka stares at the women in the business suit down with sparking curiosity. She had black hair, a tight suit, and looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she met her in another life, not that Jecka believed in that.
“I’m guessing you're the person who never moved into your dorm room? That must be why you have so much luggage. You realize classes start incredibly soon? ”
“Yeah, I just…don't quite know how to move in.”
“You're at the University of Virginia but didn't bother to check your email or even attempt to come to move-in day?” Mrs. Lynn said in a defeated voice.
“I was busy doing…important things. I'm here now though, and I'd like it if you could help me find my room. Aren't you the RA or whatever?”
Mrs. Lynn mutters something under her breath, something that Jecka could make out about preferring being a principal at a highschool or something, but she couldn't quite understand the context. Regardless, Mrs. Lynn helps her find her way. The architecture of the dorm hall felt as if it hadn't been updated since the 19th century. Ironic since it was a sought after school. It wasn't at all dirty or trashy, just extremely boring to look at. The white walls and red bricks blended together after a while of staring.
Eventually, they reach the room. The dorm looked quite spacious, with a tall framed bed on the left and the right. Underneath the beds were a table, and some space for luggage. She wondered who her roommate was, who had apparently already taken the right side of the room. Her laundry messily layed all around the desk-table. Hope they're not a freak , Jecka notioned.
“This is your room, now if you excuse me, I need to find the next immature young-adult who somehow made it into a T20 school.” Mrs Lynn remarked in shame.
Well screw you too, Jecka wanted to say, but quickly realized she was falling into the same mental trappings of her teenage-self. She planned, no, she promised that she'd try to improve a bit on her attitude. Not exactly for her current self, but for when she needed to seduce a rich doctor and marry him for the money.
“Now to hurry up and get to actual fucking classes”
Jecka's first day of college was absolutely terrible. First, her professor bumped into her and spilled blue soda on her light pink tank-top. Designer light-pink tank-top. She hadn't known this was her professor, and proceeded to curse at him in the worst way possible.
“Are you sure your mother loved you? How did she never teach you how to…I don't know, respect people's fucking space?”
It was incredibly awkward having him awkwardly apologize, only for him to be a well-renowned professor that was teaching one of her general educational classes.
Secondly, she couldn't find the correct building for her third period class of the day. She actually never found it. What if they actually went over something important? She'd never be able to find a rich doctor husband if she got the title of college dropout, she shivered.
Thirdly, she felt as if she managed to accidentally offend one of her fellow classmates in her third period class. The girl had red-hair, and a pretty slim figure. Jecka was sure she also saw at least one cut on her arm. She either hasn't grown past high school mentally, or she's gay. Jecka began to think…out loud.
The girl jumped up from her seat, shaking profusely. Jecka wondered how she had heard her in this gigantic lecture hall, until she realized they were sitting right beside each other. Jecka couldn't pretend she hadn't said what she said, and she felt as if it would be wrong to take it back when it was what she truly believed. There wasn't anything wrong with being gay, she wouldn't wish it on herself, but there wasn't anything technically wrong with it. Her eyes glanced towards her red-haired classmate. She was in tears as she ran out of the lecture. Dramatic much ? Jecka thought.
After all three events, Jecka concluded that college was going to be a rough time. Maybe even worse than high school. At least in highschool she had a semblance of importance. Here she felt like another fly on the wall. She hadn't even managed to make a single friend.
Jecka left her last class of the day. The humongous buildings with depressingly white walls made her constantly feel as if she was in a mental asylum. She was going to go by the dining hall, but decided that what she really needed was a percocet. She didn't quite know where to find one though. Once again, she wasn't addicted, she just wanted to mentally recover from the new hell that is apparently college.
A graduate of 09, huh?
Jecka laughed at her stupidity once more. She thought about how serious she had been when delivering that mess of a speech, and while the content about the teachers were true, she couldn't help but regret her dismissal of adolescence. She wasn't a rich bitch who didn't have to work, she wasn't even technically a graduate yet, as graduating highschool is more of a prerequisite in life, rather than an accomplishment. Now she was just…Jecka, that is for the people who actually call her by her nickname. It was a pretty soul crushing realization that Jessica will soon be the name most people know her by, which signifies how little they'll actually know her.
Adulthood apparently seemed quite lonely, and she was still at level one.
This was not the time for her to begin moping. she just needed to find her percs, then she'd be able to deal with this new bullshit with the confidence she used to have.
—-
It had gotten late and Jecka was still roaming aimlessly around campus, not quite knowing what to do with herself. She decided to go to a local convenience store just to pass a small amount of time. The building was quite small, but it had a red and green aesthetic that at least didn't make her want to kill herself like the designs of the college.
She was right about to walk into the store as a black haired girl walked past her and immediately got her attention. She could have swore she recognized her in one of the boring earlier classes going over the syllabus. If this is the same person, she's the woman who audibly made a comment when the red haired girl decided to leave.
“I know this is Virginia and Obama is president, but my God I don't think I've ever seen someone who look like they fuck women so much in my life.”
At the time, Jecka eyed her in shock and relief that she wasn't the only person who was clocking her as a homosexual. Now she's just staring in curiosity as the girl walks inside the store to sit right at a TV playing mythbusters.
Who the fuck actually watches mythbusters?
“Are you just going to keep staring at me like I just murdered your favorite Labrador, or are you planning to actually communicate with me?”
Jecka is knocked out of her mix of disgust and shock, and now stammers trying to think of an excuse of why she was staring at a random stranger.
“it’s nothing…it's just I was planning on talking to you and then it turned out you came in here to watch that abomination of a show.”
“Oh? Since you clearly have such superior taste, what's your favorite TV-show then?”
“Smallville.”
“...”
Both girls stared at each other awkwardly. Jecka wasn't sure if she should elaborate, or let the other girl speak first.
“Jesus fucking Christ, please go kill yourself.”
Jecka found herself once again shocked at the girl's honesty. Though she said that in such a comedic tone she couldn't help but try her best not to cry of laughter.
“why is it always bitches who like Smallville who like to judge others so much? We get it, you hate quality TV, no need to ruin life for the rest of us.”
The girl gave Jecka a complicated expression; it was hard to determine if she was joking or being completely serious. Jecka didn't mind it though, she was just happy to find someone who didn’t mind being honest at the detriment of social interaction. Someone who she felt like she could talk to without judgment, even if they were a stranger.
“You're right, I was being a bitch. I'm sorry. What's your name? You seem like you'd be fun to hang around.”
Jecka was…apologizing? She wasn't quite sure if that was the right move, nor was it something she would generally do. Yet, she really felt inclined to get to know this person, or just anyone who wasn't fake at this point.
“You insult my favorite show and then ask for my name? It's Nicole, you asshole.”
“Nicole….that name sounds familiar.”
Jecka thinks back to the silhouette of her dorm room, and the picture on the right side of the room. It couldn't be.
“Wait, are you my fucking roommate? My roommate is a bitch that watches mythbusters?”
So much for apologizing , Jecka reflected.
….this was going to be a long four years.
[Discontinued due to feet discourse and the overall third game.]