Mean Girl's One Shot's for us Helpless Fanpeople

How it all Started

Janis&Damian

Yay, first chapter! This is my idea on how Janis and Damian became friends.  Trigger warning for homophobic slurs and depressive thoughts. You will start to notice very quickly I have always valued a good friendship. 

Janis ran through the empty hallway,  done with all of it. Done with the torment of snickering eighth graders whispering behind their hands at and about her. Done with people yanking away from her as if she had some disease. Done with the ever persistent notes that had accumulated in her locker she didn't dare throw away.  She was done with the look of disappointment her parents gave her and the way teacher's wouldn't call on her in class anymore. Done with herself and her own worthlessness. 

Janis clutched her bathroom pass in her hand tightly. The impossible had happened and school had somehow managed to become more hellish since Regina confronted her.  Normally the words of other students did not hurt her in the slightest, but it was no longer just words. This was a consistent wave of sounds and phrases and fists determined to hold her down.  She didn't understand why any of this was happening. The names they threw around at her like she was somehow less them. As if emotions, simple feelings you could not control, somehow made you less than another.

She continued to rush onward. It wasn't as if their words were true either. At least, she didn't think so. She had never had feelings for someone before. Her group of friends was extremely limited, and it was hard to even like the people she spent most of her time around, much less love.  Why did people expect her to have it all figured out?! And even is she did have it all figured out, why would she have to conform to society's idea of " normal. " She was only fourteen for Christ's sake! 

She hesitated slightly when running as she caught a glimpse of her locker. Janis walked towards it and traced her fingers over the sloppy scrawl of Sharpie. " Space Dyke, " she muttered under her breath. Regina's voice echoed in her mind, And that's all you'll ever be.  Janis yanked her hand away and stumbled backwards. Somewhere down the hallway she heard a door close and footsteps headed in her direction. She turned away from the sound and continued running towards the restroom. 

The footsteps behind her seemed to speed up to match her pace, prompting her to go faster.  She turned the corner and rushed to the bathroom door, pressing down on the handle of the door , praying that nobody else would be inside. She pushed open the door and closed it tightly behind her.  She glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that it was empty. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. The reflection was not someone she had seen in a long time. 

Janis barely recognized the girl staring back at her. This girl had no make up on and obviously didn't care about her appearance. She was wearing a plain sweatshirt and jeans as if to not attract attention. Nothing special, and nothing that Regina would approve of.  There was no makeup caked across her face in an attempt at mock perfection.  Regina wouldn't like that either. The part that shocked her the most though were the dark brown roots starting to peak through the girls mostly blonde hair. Regina would have hung her for such treason.  

Janis splashed water in her face in an attempt to calm herself, mentally cursing herself for thinking about what Regina thought of her. That didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was getting through the rest of the day. She could hide here until lunch, which was only 20 minute anyway, then go back to get her things from class.  She glanced back up at her reflection, ignoring the creak of the bathroom door opening somewhere behind her.  She spit at her reflection disgusted with herself. 

" That's only going to hurt you more," came voice from behind her. Janis jumped and turned quickly.  In the doorway stood a boy she knew from some of her classes. He was relatively new, having started at the beginning of that very year. What had his name been? She shook her head and responded.  " It will only damage your self esteem further. "

" You shouldn't be in here, this is the girl's bathroom," she gestured around her, not sure what to make of the situation. The boy shrugged and walked towards her slowly. 

" I saw you running down the hallway. I wanted to see if you were alright," he shrugged slightly, holding out his hand. "We have a few classes together but I don't know if we've ever really talked. My name is Damian. Damian Hubbard."

Janis scowled, looking him up and down but didn't shake his hand, " Yeah, well you can go now. Wouldn't want you to catch the disease. You don't wanna be caught with the ' Space Dyke' do you? What would the others do to you? What would they say?" her voice seemed to be getting louder, and she found herself walking towards him. " How would they react to the fact that you actually sought out the freak to try to help her?!, " 

At this point she was on the verge of having another breakdown, and she really did not want to do that in front of someone she barely knew. She took a deep breath and stopped walking, looking back up at him. Damian had not moved, instead, he was looking at her with what appeared to be a worried expression. 

" Why would you think I'd care about that? About what those people have to say after they have obviously hurt you quite a bit. They all have very poor judgment if you haven't noticed."  He seemed almost hurt by the thought. 

" Gee, I have no idea! Maybe because everyone has been treating me like some... some..  parasite that deserves to be crushed ever since Regina started that rumor?!" Janis had struggled to find a good analogy.  There was no way she could convey how she was truly feeling. How disgusted she was with herself. " Just.. Just please go."

Damian hesitated, but only momentarily, before he began speaking, "I'm not like that.  I'm not going to turn away from you when you most defiantly need a good friend," he stated defiantly, "I'm staying right here and if you don't want to talk, I get it. But I'm going to stand right here by your side, like a good friend should, and I swear if anybody tries to hurt you I will make sure they never want to do it again. Even if you don't want me here, until you are  OK, or you have other friends that I can trust will help you, I am not letting you alone. You do NOT deserve to be this miserable or hated all the time. No one does."

Janis stared right into his eyes. Nobody had ever been like this to her, or truthfully, anyone at this school. If a Plastic declared you bad news, a problem to society or the school's social hierarchy, you were avoided like the Black Death in fourteenth century Europe.  She had never been so grateful to one person. 

" I-, " she shook her head, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. She wiped at them quickly not wanting the other to notice. If he did, he didn't say anything." Thank you." 

Damian nodded at her before glancing at the watch strapped across his wrist. " There's about 10 minutes until lunch. Do you want me to wait it out here with you?" Janis nodded at him and he smiled softly at her. " Alright then. Do you need a hug or is that stepping over the line to soon?" 

The corner's of Janis's mouth turned up wards slightly at his words, " No, a hug sounds great." The boy grinned and engulfed her in a hug, his tall figure tightly wrapped around her much smaller one. 

The two waited another 15 minutes, allowing the rest of their peers to make their way towards the lunch room. A few girls came in and out, but most of them straight up ignored them. Those of them who tried to mess with Janis had another thing coming for them. Damian was true to his words of not allowing anyone to hurt her. The two briefly parted ways to retrieve their belongings before meeting back up and eating lunch right there on the bathroom floor where they met.  Damian knew he couldn't make all the girl's pain go away, and Janis knew all the problems wouldn't end as soon as a new friend waltzed into her life, but life would never be easy for anyone. They would still both face rough patches and hard times, and Janis most certainly wasn't out of the dark yet. But with a new friend by her side, Janis would finally be able to have a little bit of peace in her life, a little more confidence, and someone she knew she could count on if she ever again fell to hard to get up on her own.