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ARE YOU BORED YET
THE WALLOWS
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[ chapter one! ]
a small sigh escaped the jane's plump lips as she sat in the almost silent science class that cold autumn afternoon. usually, all her attention would be on her teacher, mr clarke, she loved learning about science, she found it fascinating. she especially loved biology, the way plants lived and their cells was something she was always curious and intrigued about. there would be days when jane would stay behind after school with mr clarke to learn even more about her favorite subject.
however today she couldn't be more bored.
jane was more interested in the light taps on the window from where the rain is slowly falling from they cloudy, grey sky. she watches the raindrops race down the window mindlessly, her head slipping out of her hand.
"jane!"
her thoughts were quickly interrupted by mr clarke's kind yet inpatient voice. he looked at her with a small smile, while the entire class stared at her as if she was some sort of alien.
"uh, yes sir?" jane finally says quietly, fiddling with her pen anxiously due to the nervous feeling she was experiencing.
"can you tell me what the function of the red blood cell is?" mr clarke asks with a reassuring smile as he nods at her. jane gulps nervously, her mind racing. truthfully, she knew the exact answer, it was an easy question. however when it came to answering that question in front of a class of 25 students who were staring at you oddly it wasn't so easy to give the answer.
"t-the answer is... uh-" jane begins, however her few fleeting moments of confidence is drowned away when she locks eyes with him.
mike wheeler. jane's crush.
he's staring at her, with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as if he was trying to study the girl. jane loved looking at mike, she loved eveything about him. his soft dark hair to his dark brown eyes and freckled cheeks. she couldn't help but stare back. he continues to stare for a few more seconds before clearly losing interest in the odd girl and turning around to talk to his friends.
"jane? do you want me to ask someone else?" mr clarke asks sympathetically, interrupting jane's thoughts once again. in pure panic, jane quickly nods and looks down at her textbook in embarrassment. a few sniggers and giggles from students could be heard, causing jane to turn an even brighter shade of red.
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lunchtime. usually a time most students look forward to after a long, boring day classes. however, this was the worst part of the day for jane. the single hour students had to do whatever they pleased was dreaded by her everyday.
despite being nothing but kind to everyone, jane was labeled as the freak of the school.
she had no friends, people didn't go near her, as if she was some sort of contagious disease.
jane had always wanted to be in the party. mikes friend group. it consisted of five part members. mike wheeler, will byers, max mayfield, lucas sincair and dustin henderson. she would spend some lunches simply looking at them, and longing for a friendship like theirs. however she knew that was possible.
jane joined school later than everyone else. when she first joined she knew little to no english, so she could hardly speak. this confused many students, and caused many students to start calling her a mute or a freak.
however they had no idea about jane's past or what she has been through.
at first these names hurt jane. she would spend countless hours crying while huddled up in the corner of the toilet cubicles. there were times when she wished she could tell people about her past, the lab, and how she was different to everyone else. but she knew she couldn't. she'd be breaking a rule.
after time jane grew tired of the names. almost numb to them. as if she had developed her own human shield so whenever someone was to shout 'freak' at her in the hallway the hurtful words would simply repel from her own personal shield.
since jane had no one to hang around with at school, she would spend many of her lunches in mr clarke's room. they would discuss science most lunches, or sometimes even the soaps that jane had found on her tv. mr clarke truthfully admitted he didn't like soaps, he explained he was much more into sci-fi movies.
today was no different.
once again, jane was sat at the front of his quiet little classroom eating her lunch. it went like any other lunch, the same conversations about mitochondria or mitosis, or discussions over soaps. jane loved these conversations, she really did. however a part of her was bored. bored of the same room, with the same person and the exact same conversation. she wanted friends her own age, friends to go to the movies with over the weekend, friends to talk to who watch the same soaps as her or read the same magazines. but she knew she'd never make any friends her own age when she was the freak of the school.
suddenly, a loud knock comes from mr clarke's door. jane jumps at the sudden noise and looks over to the door.
and her heart stops.
the party.
her breathing quickened as the group of teenagers entered the room, lead by none other than mike wheeler. the bright smile on his face caused jane to blush slightly. she had always loved his smile, the way his freckles cheeks turned slightly red and small creases formed next to his eyes. she loved his laugh even more. however he hardly ever laughed, usually only when dustin says something funny to the group.
"hey sir, we came to ask for help because we didn't understand one of the questions on the biology homework" mike says, speaking for the group. sir nods and begins to look at the homework sheet.
jane practically felt invisible. not a single one of them had even glanced in her direction since they walked into the classroom. it hurt her slightly. she was either completely ignored by people or abused with hurtful words.
"jane, maybe you can help with this question? you find osmosis interesting don't you?" mr clarke asks kindly, smiling proudly at one of his star students.
janes heart began to race. the whole party was now looking directly at her. dustin gave her a huge grin, causing her to feel slightly better, however mike simply gave her that same uninterested, emotionless stare.
she quickly nods and takes the homework sheet from mr clarke. she felt embarrassed as the party came and sat down in front of her. she knew mr clarke had good intentions, he wanted her to make new friends and improve her social skills, but jane felt nerves building up inside of her as the group stared at her.
"uh well- um" jane starts anxiously, however quickly stops when her nerves get the better of her. she sighs, and continues.
"o-osmosis is easy if you remember the basic definition" jane begins confidently, finally gathering up enough courage to speak in front of them. "it's simply the process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one" she explains to the group. dustin looks down at her with and impressed smile, causing jane herself to smile slightly. will also gives her a fascinated stare at the girls knowledge.
"wow, i didn't know you were so good at science!" dustin says with a small laugh as he crosses his arms. even lucas looks somewhat impressed at the girl as he looks at her with raised eyebrows.
the group begins to talk amongst themselves, giving jane a few seconds to look at mike. he is writing down the answer on the homework sheet, with his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration.
"so what's your name? we have never really spoken before." max suddenly says. jane was always slightly intimidated by the red head, however always longed to be her friend too. she was cool, she skated practically everywhere and was apparently really good at games in the arcade.
"uh jane- my name is jane" jane quickly answers as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear nervously.
max nods and gives a small smile. this felt odd and different for jane. being noticed and acknowledged by others was weird for her. all she has ever wanted was a friend. and here she was, sat eating lunch with the party. she felt warm inside, maybe she could even be a party member? no. she thought. that's too far.
"you seem pretty cool jane, maybe you could come to the arcade with us tomorrow night" dustin says with yet another huge grin as will nods in approval.
"yeah, i would love to-" jane begins, however is quickly cut off.
"but she isn't a party member dustin. party members only, remember?" mike says in an annoyed tone as he glares at dustin.
max immediately scoffs and rolls her eyes. "really mike? who gives a shit? let her come-" max protests, however she is quickly stopped by mike.
"no. this is non negotiable" mike says coldly as he looks back down at his homework. jane felt a sharp pain in her heart.
"ignore him, he'll warm up to you eventually" lucas whispers to jane, attempting to make her feel better after mikes outburst.
jane nods with a small smile, however she felt tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. without hesitation, she grabbed her bag and darted out the classroom.
the one time she had spoken to other teenagers, and actually gotten along with them and spoken to them normally without mean comments being said, was ruined by the boy who her heart ached for.
and it hurt so much.