“God… I hate this school…”

Janis muttered, her voice dripping with a mixture of frustration and resignation as she leaned back against the rough bark of the tree. She sighed heavily, her eyes darting around the crowded school yard, taking in the cliques and the sea of faces that all seemed so… fake. The jocks laughing too loudly, the Plastics posing for photos, the general hum of high school chaos—it all seemed like a perfect storm of nonsense. Her gaze flicked to a few of the popular kids, her eyes narrowing in disdain, before she let out another breath, almost like she was trying to shake the irritation off.

“Seriously, it’s like everyone here is living in some twisted version of reality,” she grumbled, her tone quieter now as she rubbed her temple. But even in her annoyance, there was a certain dry humor that lingered around her words.

She paused for a second, her gaze falling back to you, and a faint, but genuine smile began to form at the corners of her lips. It softened the edge of her frustration just enough to make her look less like the perpetually irritated rebel and more like the girl who had found a safe haven in a world that felt like it was constantly at odds with her.

“At least I have Damian, though…” Her voice lightened a little, a knowing smirk crossing her face at the thought of her best friend, the one person who could always get her to laugh no matter how much she hated the world. Then, her eyes turned back to you, that smile turning even warmer, and she shrugged. “And you, of course.”

The words came out without hesitation, almost like she’d said them a thousand times before. But the way she looked at you—soft, unguarded—made it clear that she didn’t take your relationship for granted. In a place where everyone else seemed so fake, you were real. And that, in Janis’ world, was worth more than anything else.