picking teams

chapter 3: janis

helloooo everyone happy wednesday wooooo!!

we're back with this yaaaay! some of you might notice there's a pretty major change from the last janis chapter (nothing that impacts the plot dw) which is fun!! the fun part of this is that y'all basically get to see this book happen in real time so i might occasionalllyyyyy do that as the plot develops just to make sure everything lines up :) sorry :p

anyhoo!! into this woo
tw for
homo/lesbophobia
abuse mention
discussion of bullying

and as always if i've missed something please let me know so i can add it :)

enjoy!

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Janis continues suffering through first period math. It's only day two, but still.

The girl wasn't there this morning, so she has nothing to fret over and keep her awake. She tries to pay attention, but she already doesn't know what's going on. Polynomials? Variables? Nothing is clicking.

Janis jumps a bit when the bell rings, signaling the end of class. She grabs her spiky backpack from the ground and shoves her notebook into it. Her pencil gets tucked behind her ear, and she's off. Or so she thinks.

"Janis, can I talk to you for a second?" Ms. Norbury asks gently. Janis freezes and turns around just before she makes it out of the classroom.

Damian turns as well, but Janis waves him off. He gives her a joking salute and heads off on his way to his next class. Janis heads over to the teacher's desk, fiddling with the end of her backpack strap and refusing to meet her eye.

"What do you need?" she mumbles.

"Is everything okay? You seem distracted," Ms. Norbury says. Janis loathes the amount of concern in her tone. "It's only the second day, I don't want to see you slipping. Especially not with you on the football team this year. A lot of people are really proud of you, you know. I'd hate to see you lose that."

"Lose it?"

"If your grade slips below a C in any class you're benched," Ms. Norbury says. "School policy, it's that way for all the sports. If you can't get it back up after a month you'll be kicked off the team."

Shit, Janis thinks. She cannot lose her place now. And especially not like this.

"I-I'm fine," she says hastily. "I'll do better."

"Everything's okay at home?" Ms. Norbury asks gently. "If something is going on we have people to talk to."

"Yeah, whole lotta good they do," Janis scoffs under her breath. "Look, everything's fine. It's just... early. I'm gonna be late for art."

"Of course, go ahead," Ms. Norbury says. "And Janis." Janis pauses to look at her. "We can help you, if you need. You just have to ask."

Janis nods, turning on her heel and heading out.

"You just have to ask," she mocks under her breath.

She hadn't technically lied. Everything is okay at home, now. Her dad finally got enough money together to kick her homophobic and abusive mother to the curb for good. Janis got a cat. Her sister loves her, and her dad has been her rock like always.

The problems are at school.

Regina may not target her directly anymore, but she's still the head bitch in charge. Of everyone.

Ever the dictator, she has every single clique in the school wrapped around her finger. They'll bend over backwards to do whatever she wants. And for what? Fifteen minutes of fame?