The first day!
The day had arrived - now it was Jessie’s first day at SCHOOL - like it was her second day at school, but she didn’t have her first class yet. Now it had come. It was a sunny day, and the three girls were walking through the hallway (mitski ref), Jessie in the middle, Bonnie on her left side, and Nita on her right side.
The school’s hallways were huge; the school itself was massive! There were tons of students and teachers, and the hallways were full of students, but the three girls managed to squeeze themselves in.
It was also a bit hard for Jessie to try to fit in since she got into this school in the middle of the semester. She had to complete lots of work that the other students in her grade did. She was planning to ask Leon or Gus but the more she thought about it. The less confidence she got. She barely knew them, so it would be embarrassing - she’d talk to her teachers.
Jessie already knew her full schedule; the problem was that she didn’t know where each class was. Thankfully, her nice roommates had already figured out a solution for that. Last night, Bonnie created a group chat with her, Nita, Jessie, Leon, and Gus. With that group chat, Jessie could easily ask them where each class was without any trouble - or it was just an excuse for Bonnie to add Jessie to their group chat. She always wanted another female friend in their group. Yay! But hey, we're talking about Jessie - she would never ask for help.
As they walked, Bonnie and Nita mostly talked to each other while Jessie tried to hide between the two since she was the new student. A couple of eyes were looking at her. It’s normal, but Jessie was so terrified. All the eyes... the people… why are they staring at me?? She knew it was normal, but she felt so nervous and scared - Jessie was so lost in her mind. People. People. Eyes. They are looking at me. Are they judging me? Why am I so scared?... Escape. Mom. I need my mom..
Bonnie and Nita did not notice anything weird. I mean, Jessie looked fine; she didn't walk weirdly or anything…
“What’s your first class?” Bonnie asked Jessie as she still kept looking at Nita. She didn’t pay much attention to Jessie even though she asked her a question, she was just curious to know what the other girl's schedule was. She already knew Nita’s; in fact, they shared almost all of their classes. Bonnie waited for Jessie to answer, but sadly, there was no reply. Which was weird, it's impolite to ignore someone’s question… Bonnie then looked at Jessie; she was looking at the ground as she kept walking slowly. She was a few steps behind them because of how slowly she walked. Jessie was still lost in her mind - she felt like she was gonna die, even though no one looked at her. They just took a peek to see the new girl, but Jessie didn't feel like it. She felt like EVERYBODY looked at her - judged her. Hated her.
But honestly, why did she even think that?
Bonnie didn't know what to do, and Nita looked at Bonnie with a confused face, wondering what was wrong with the other girl. After a few moments of staring at each other, Nita decided to lay her hand on Jessie’s shoulder to make sure she was still with them. They seemed like she was just tired or nervous from her first day here or whatever - Jessie finally reacted and looked up at them. She was also confused; why did they stop talking? Why are both of them staring at her? Why is Nita touching my shoulder? Is she gonna knock me out? Are they going to beat me up?..
“What’s your first class, Jessie?” Bonnie asked again. She wanted to ask her what made her zone out all of a sudden, but she decided to stick to her first question, trying to ignore what just happened.
Jessie stood still - did she just think they were going to beat her up?
“Weird…” Jessie accidentally said out loud, and Nita thought she was answering Bonnie’s question. “Since when have we had this class?” She confusingly asked the two girls. “Huh? I'm sorry, I meant to say I got math class.” Jessie finally answered Bonnie's question. Bonnie was unhappy, but she didn’t want to get mad at Jessie; that would also be a really stupid reason. “Awh sucks for you!” Bonnie tried to laugh it off, she did get kind of upset for having to ask such a stupid question twice. But again she decided to ignore it - such a silly reason to be upset anyway.
“Me and Bonnie share almost every class!” Nita jumped and hugged Bonnie - definitely friendship goals!
“And looks like our class is right here...” Bonnie sighed. They were right next to Geography class, oh how Bonnie and Nita hated that class. “Guess we'll see each other at lunch?” Bonnie hugged Jessie and reminded her to call or text them in the group chat if she got in trouble. “All right... thanks,” Jessie smiled and waved goodbye to the two girls who just entered the class, feeling tired and helpless for the next lesson.
Jessie was left all alone, well, not all alone since there were still so many people around her in the hallways. Jessie hated walking in the hallways, especially when there were people around. She hated how big the hallways were; it just made her feel so much lonelier than she was. It showed how much space she had with nothing to fill it with - just her standing in the big space, hoping for nothing. Jessie took her phone out to prevent her mind from thinking about the people around her, but the main thing she wanted to do was check the time. It was currently 8:10; in 5 minutes, her first class was going to start. She had math now, yay...
Jessie was so ready to go to class but stopped. Wait. She didn’t even know where her class was. She was lost after Bonnie and Nita left her, and she kept walking without even thinking about where she was heading. So now she was way more lost. But Jessie wasn’t stupid; she got herself together and started to look around, trying to spot other kids with the same books as her, the same math book. She also listened to people’s conversations until she heard two girls talking about math class. One of them was holding a similar book to hers. The two girls were heading somewhere, and Jessie wasn’t sure where they were going, but she believed it was math class, so she slowly followed them without making it seem obvious. It’s not like anyone would even notice her...
And… she was right! Wait, not about being unnoticed… she was right about the two girls walking to math class!
She entered a few moments after the girls had entered. The classroom was pretty big, around 40 kids; that’s a lot compared to her old school.
Jessie looked around with her eyes, trying to find a spot. Unfortunately, there were no seats left. Well, at least not for her. Some kids put their bags in the next spot beside them, and others put their legs up. Someone was even sleeping on two chairs. Of course, there were still spots left, but none of them looked very welcoming towards Jessie. She felt like it would bother them if she sat next to them, and she didn’t want that to happen. Jessie tried to find a spot for herself, but it seemed like there were none left. All of a sudden, she got a message from... an unknown number.
??? : Hey, this is Leon! I'm in math class, and well, I see you. You seem lost; don’t you have a spot?
Jessie read the message and tried to find Leon. Where the hell was he sitting? She looked around but saw no sign of him. Jessie decided to reply to him.
Jessie: No, I don’t.
The simple, short answer; that was Jessie, keeping her words to herself even over texts. Jessie then saved him to her contacts. I mean, they’re now friends, aren’t they?
She kept looking at her phone, waiting patiently for his reply, but as she looked down at her phone, she felt a hand patting her head. What?
“Come after me!” It was Leon’s voice. Did he just come to call her? Jessie slowly looked up from her phone to face the boy in front of her. He had a big smile on his face, but she could sense his shyness. Leon finally took his hand off her head and took her hand, and he slowly started walking towards his seat.
He was sitting in the back, but like really back. No wonder Jessie couldn’t spot him. But she also thought she needed to change her glasses; her eye prescription may have increased.
As they sat down, Jessie noticed he was in the middle of a drawing. It wasn’t very good, but hey, who was she to judge? She could barely draw a stick figure. Leon immediately focused his attention back on his drawing. She could tell he was kind of nervous about it, well, maybe because he never showed his drawings to anyone and he was nervous about Jessie, it had also been a while since he sat next to a girl during class; he usually sat next to Gus, Sandy, a boy or well. No one?
They sat in silence; it wasn’t an awkward silence though. Jessie was lost in her mind, and Leon was fully focused on his drawing. Guess it was a nice match between these two. A few minutes later, the teacher arrived. She had dark purple hair, dark skin, and small round glasses. She seemed like a nice, sweet teacher, Jessie thought. The students got up and greeted her, and Jessie got up too. Leon was the only one who stayed in his place, but no one even noticed that. was he invisible to the others… weird.
“Good morning, everyone! Take out your books, and let’s start the lesson,” the teacher said, and everyone did as she instructed, except for Leon, once again. It didn’t bother Jessie, but she wondered if he was like this in every class or if it was because he was working on his drawing. She did want to ask but felt like it would bother him or make him uncomfortable, so she stayed silent and tried to focus on the lesson.
The problem was that the teacher was teaching them something that Jessie already knew, so it was boring for her. Jessie knew a lot; her knowledge was insane. I mean, what could she do for four years straight at home? Nothing? No, Jessie hated doing nothing. She always wanted to do something and learn everything she could. So, during those four years, Jessie learned everything she could: math, history, biology, science, and much more. Some of it was really… well, useless, but Jessie didn’t care. Maybe she wasn’t a socialite or whatever, but she was 100% smart. Maybe not the smartest person, but smart enough for a 16-year-old kid.
Even though Jessie knew everything, she still listened. She had nothing better to do anyway. She admired the way her teacher taught; she wasn’t in a hurry or anything and even explained a few times until her students understood. Well, it would be a waste of time to teach if the students didn’t understand or listen. She glared at the art boy, and she could tell he was about to finish his drawing. She wanted him to learn something, but at the same time, she wanted him to enjoy himself, to enjoy something he liked to do. So she waited for a while, but as soon as he finished, he laid his head down on the table. Jessie sighed quietly and tapped on his head. Leon was surprised by her action and looked up at her. She was sitting straight and looked taller than him like that while he sat like, well, a shrimp.. 🦐. She wasn’t looking at him; her eyes were still on the teacher.
“Hmm?” Leon was confused. Jessie wanted to tell him to study and try to listen, but she felt that if she told him that, he would probably get annoyed with her, so she stayed silent. But now it felt awkward. She needed to do something. She slowly looked at him and just smiled at him—not a big smile, but not a small one, just a simple, innocent smile. Now it was Leon’s time to get more confused. He didn’t know what to do, so he gave her a small smile too. This is confusing, he thought, but just when he was about to ask her what she wanted from him, she looked away back to the teacher, who was right in front of their table, handing them two papers.
“Finish the papers and hand them back to me once you finish. You can do it together or alone; whatever works best,” she said, giving them a sweet smile. As she was about to walk away, she noticed Jessie, whom she wasn’t familiar with. That must be a new student, she thought. I will talk to her later; for now, I will let her finish the papers first.
Jessie began to work on her papers. It was easy for her,unlike someone else, she took a quick peek at the boy next to her. Leon just stared at his papers, extremely confused, as if he were staring at the most questionable paper. It was new material for him, something the teacher just taught, and well, our boy Leon decided to not listen in this class.
After a few moments, Leon decided to just draw on his paper. God, is art the only good thing he was good at? He could barely solve a simple question while Jessie had already finished her work. She was proud of herself. God! Was being smart the only good thing about her?
She needed to hand those papers to the teacher, but as she looked around, everyone kept working on their pages, except Leon, who was drawing on his. She did want to hand in her papers but felt bad for finishing them way too fast. They will all hate her for being smart. No one liked her because she was intelligent… no one likes smart people…but this was a different school. It's not her old school. It’s not them anymore.
Besides that, she was too shy to walk to the teacher alone, so she waited for Leon to finish his work. She was sure he was doing great work, so she didn't even bother to look or ask him if he needed help. She looked around the class, trying to spot interesting stuff around her, but sadly nothing; it was just a normal math class, nothing interesting. Really? What did she even expect? She looked over at Leon and noticed he hadn't even begun to work, but wow, nice drawings, she thought. She wanted to offer him some help but got nervous. Would he hate her if she offered him help? She didn't want him to hate her, so she slowly slid her papers to the boy next to her, her gaze never meeting his as she handed them over so he could copy from her papers.
Leon saw the other girl's paper and was perplexed. Why would she give him her papers?
He gave her a confused glance, thinking she needed help, he was about to laugh and tell her that he didn’t understand the class. But before he could say anything, he glanced at the papers and saw them full of answers. How did she even manage to finish them? It hadn’t even been ten minutes since the teacher handed them out. That girl was surely smart. Leon now felt a mix of admiration and embarrassment.
“Are you sure?” he asked quietly, glancing at her. Jessie nodded, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.
“Yeah, go ahead. I finished already,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Leon hesitated for a moment, then started copying her answers, glancing back and forth between her paper and his. He couldn’t believe how quickly she had finished. As he copied, he couldn’t help but feel grateful. Maybe this girl wasn’t so bad after all. Not that he thought that.
As the minutes passed, Jessie couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over her as she saw Leon focused on her work. She took a look at the drawing he had done before. She admired the way he drew. It was nice to see someone being creative, even if they weren’t paying attention to the lesson.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Leon finished copying the answers. He looked at Jessie, and for a moment, their eyes met. “Thanks,” he said, a genuine smile breaking through his usual shyness. “I owe you one.”
Jessie nervously laughed, “Oh it’s nothing”, but Leon meant it. “Fym ‘nothing’, That was super nice, I honestly own you one. But for now, let's hand it to the teacher. I guess you were too shy to go by yourself?” at least Leon could read people pretty well, Jessie nodded shyly.
The boy got up so as the girl, he held her hand and on his other hand he held the paper, Jessie looked at their hands touching each other. Leon sure likes physical touch. She took her paper and they both walked to the teacher who was sitting there smiling at the two kids who walked towards her.
“We finished,” Leon said proudly as he put his paper on her desk and Jessie followed his action. Leon felt bad for saying ‘we’ since Jessie did it, but that's the only way to walk out of class without the teacher questioning them.
The teacher took a look at their work and smiled. She was surprised Leon did something in her class, most of the time - more like all of the time did nothing but draw or sleep.
She put the papers down and looked at the kids in front of her, “Well done you two, you two are dismissed but first.” The teacher focused her eyes on Jessie, “Are you new here? I have never seen you in my class before, and I know each of my students very well”, Jessie just stood there too afraid to answer, she didn't know if the teacher was mad at her. Leon noticed that and was about to respond for Jessie but the teacher stopped him, “Leon dear, I asked her, not you” the teacher said and this time softened her voice. Jessie nodded, afraid to speak up for herself, the teacher nodded too and now faced Leon, “Well since she’s new I would like you to show her around school, since our school is pretty big, I’m afraid my dear student will get lost.” She said and looked at Jessie again, for some reason, Jessie now felt much better seeing that her teacher cared for her, “Yes ma’am” Leon said and again took Jessie’s hand, but before Leon could pull her Jessie had to say something, “thank you miss..uh..”, Jessie didn’t know her teacher’s name..,” Rosa, and you?” Miss Rosa said and laughed, “Jessie, thank you, Miss Rosa”.
Leon showed Jessie around school, mostly his favorite places like the rooftop, art class, the football field, and much more, he did most of the talking while Jessie replied with short answers like she always did.
Leon kept talking but he suddenly stopped, he took a little peek at Jessie, was she bothered by him? She doesn’t seem like she’s bothered but he talked nonstop…he was about to ask her something again but Jessie did first, “Can you show me where the library is?” Can she read minds?? This is exactly the thing he was about to ask her - where does she wants to go? - Leon nodded and led the way, it wasn't so far from them, just a few minutes walk. When they arrived, Jessie’s expression was Ecstatic, she looked so delighted!
Unlike Leon, he was not a fan of books at all, but sure whatever makes the girl happy.
Jessie had never seen so many books in one place. And she thought that the shelves in her room had many. The library was enormous, and there were volumes on every topic imaginable. It was as if all the knowledge in the world was contained within these walls. Jessie smiled, feeling a sense of awe and wonder at the vastness of the collection. "What a huge library," she said happily, unable to contain her excitement. She couldn't wait to explore the towering shelves and discover what treasures awaited her, meanwhile Leon stood there watching the other girl happily going from shelf to another.
There were not so many people in the library , just a few . but out of all the people that could be there..,they saw Janet and the pink haired girl from yesterday .. hm what are they doing here?
They were talking with the lady behind the corner - the librarian, their conversation seemed to be intense hmm.
Janet was quick to spot them - just a habit of her to spot people no matter where, she waved at them and was quick to grab the other girl's hand and make their way towards the shy boy and the red haired girl leaving the mad librarian all by herself looking extremely annoyed.
“Hey you two! What brings you here?” Janet asked them, they now stood in the middle of the library facing each other, “oh nothing, just showing her around the school, what about you two?” It was Leon's turn to ask, the other girl laughed and explained that Janet had to borrow a specific book but the librarian didn’t want to show her where it was. Now the girl laughed a little louder and they heard a loud ‘SHHHH’ from the lady across the room. Janet sighed and said “Well it was nice seeing you two- wait oh my god !” Janet suddenly pulled Jessie and Penny closer to each other, “I forgot to introduce you two to each other! Jessie this is Penny, and Penny this is Jessie the new girl from yesterday!”
Jessie looked up at the girl, she wasnt that tall but tall enough for Jessie to look up. Penny looked back at the shorter girl giving her a gentle smile, but as she looked more into the girl her gaze turned frightened as if she saw a ghost or something.
(Is there something wrong with my face? Why is she looking at me like this?.. - Jessie thought …)
“Hey…” Penny’s voice trembled slightly, a sharp grin plastered on her face. She quickly looked away from Jessie and pulled her hand from Janet’s grip. “I... I have to go!” Without waiting for a response, Penny hurried away, leaving the three standing in stunned silence. Leon and Jessie looked at each , confused and didn't know what to do next or how to even react, Leon never saw Penny acting like that before, towards anyone. Penny was the most friendly and welcoming person ever but why is she like this towards Jessie?
Janet looked at the other girl running away from them, she was about to run after her but she couldn’t leave the two without apologizing, this was gonna be Penny’s first expression on Jessie, and Janet didn’t want that, she cared for Penny, “oh my, I'm sorry about her! She’s usually not like that…” Janet held Jessie’s hands, “I have to go after her, see you two around then! Bye!” Janet waved goodbye and ran after the other girl leaving Leon and Jessie before they could even say something.
Jessie stood there, still processing what had just happened.a stark contrast to the coldness of Penny's reaction. Confusion swirled in her mind like a storm—what could have caused such a sudden change in demeanor?
Leon broke the silence, his brow furrowed in thought. “That was… odd,” he said slowly, trying to make sense of the situation. “Penny’s always been friendly. I’ve never seen her act like that before.” He glanced at Jessie, searching for an explanation in her expression.
Jessie shrugged, a mix of embarrassment and frustration bubbling inside her. “I don’t know. I mean, I wasn’t trying to scare her or anything,” she replied, her voice a little shaky. The sting of being perceived as something frightening, even if unintentional, was hard to shake off.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say next. “Maybe she just had a bad day or something?” he suggested, though he didn’t sound convinced. Jessie sighed and told herself that everything is ok, she just replied with a simple nod and a forced smile.
As they stood there, the sounds of the bustling school hallway seemed to fade into the background. Jessie felt a mix of disappointment and curiosity about Penny. What could have caused that moment of fear? Would she ever get the chance to find out?
Leon looked again at Jessie. She still looked lost in her mind, he should change the atmosphere of the situation.., he sighed softly and offered her to pick a book since he had the card for the library.
“Really?”
“Yeah that’s for helping me in math class!”
“Awh.. thanks!”
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Penny stumbled into the hallway, gripping her arms tightly around herself. Her nails pierced through her skin as her head spun and nausea churned in her stomach. Luckily, no one was in the hallways, everyone was still in class..
“There’s no way… no way…” she whispered to herself, the mantra repeating as her fingers pressed harder into her flesh. Her vision blurred, and she struggled to keep her balance. She didn’t even notice Janet calling her name until she suddenly collapsed against a locker. The dizziness overwhelmed her, leaving her unable to stand or walk. When Janet spotted her, she rushed over, panic in her eyes. “Oh my god, Penny!”
Grabbing Penny’s hand, Janet tried to ground her friend, her heart racing at the sight of Penny’s distress. She felt helpless; she couldn’t just leave her like this. But she also didn't know what to do…
Penny glanced up, attempting to brush everything off with a weak smile, but it only fueled Janet’s frustration. “Penny! What happened? Do you want to go back to the dorms? Please How can I help you?.. ” Sighing, she helped Penny sit on the floor, settling down beside her and rubbing her hands in a comforting gesture.
Penny remained silent. Whatever had happened was too heavy to share, even with her closest friend.
“I just feel a bit off… it’s nothing,” she chuckled weakly, but Janet’s gaze softened with concern. “Hmm… If that’s what you say…” Janet replied but still wanted to ask more. She rest her head against the locker. “But why did you run away when you saw Jessie? She looked really hurt.”
At the mention of Jessie, Penny froze, her hands trembling slightly at the sound of the name. Memories flooded back—ones she desperately wished to forget. Please, make it stop…
“Oh, I just got shy, I guess,” Penny lied, the words lacking conviction. Janet, sensing the hesitation, chose not to press further.
“Whatever you say, silly. Do you want to head back to the dorms? The hallways are going to be packed in just a minute.” Janet stood up, offering her hand to Penny.
Penny accepted it, letting out a resigned sigh. “Sure, but aren’t you meeting Edgar? Your boyfriend?”
Janet gasped, realization dawning on her. “OH RIGHT! Are you coming with me, though?” She smiled shyly, and Penny sighed once more.
“Fine… that annoying emo boy…”
“PENNY!” Janet exclaimed, laughter breaking through the tension.
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Jessie’s first day went surprisingly well. She felt nervous as she approached her teachers, but they were friendly and patient, explaining the assignments she needed to complete. As she listened,
At lunch, she joined her new friends, They laughed and chatted about their classes, and Jessie felt a warm sense of belonging. It was nice to be part of their friends group , and for the first time that day, she relaxed a little. But even amidst the laughter, her mind kept drifting back to the strange encounter with Penny.
When Jessie had seen Penny that morning, an odd sensation had washed over her, as if she recognized her from somewhere deep in her memory. It was frustrating not to know where that feeling came from. She had wanted to ask Penny about it, but the awkwardness of their first meeting held her back. Penny had seemed distant, and Jessie didn’t want to make things worse, so she decided it was best to wait a few days before reaching out.
Despite her unease, Jessie felt an itch to solve this little mystery. She had always loved piecing together puzzles, and the thought of leaving something unresolved made her restless. It felt like searching for answers but finding nothing—a feeling she couldn’t stand.
When Jessie finally arrived back at the dorms, she was greeted by the sight of Bonnie and Nita already snacking on treats. Nita jumped up, her face lighting up with excitement, and wrapped Jessie in a warm hug. The simple gesture made Jessie feel cherished, and she smiled, soaking in the comfort of their friendship.
“Come sit with us!” they urged, their voices bright and welcoming. Jessie settled in with them, feeling the weight of her worries lift just a little. They started chatting about their day, and Jessie felt a sense of joy bubbling within her. “Aww, we barely had any classes with you, Jessie,” Bonnie said, her mouth full of gummies, causing Jessie to laugh.
Yet, even in this cheerful moment, her thoughts drifted back to Penny. She took a deep breath, feeling a mix of curiosity and concern. “Do you guys know Penny?” she asked, her heart racing slightly as she hoped for some insight.