Chapter Text
She stood there, eyes unfocused, staring into her closet. Wondering whether it was worth the effort of changing her shirt today. It was pointless, anyway, it wasn’t like anyone was going to see it through the hoodie she wore everyday. Well, most days, sometimes she rotated hoodies every now and then.
Sighing, she closed the closet door, turning to the hook just behind her in the small bedroom she occupied. But not before catching a glimpse in the mirror on her door. It was almost sad how messy the brown mop on her head was this morning, and how the otherwise faint purple marks under her eyes stood out on her pale skin. She decided it’d be best to just ignore it. Her eyes focused on the space behind her instead. It was a nice room, honestly, white walls, tv, two windows - one long, the other smaller - queen sized bed, and simple pieces of furniture, most having a funko pop or small figure of an anime character she liked sitting atop it.
As she pulled a brown Asheville hoodie over her head at a miserable 6:55am, she heard her mom from the kitchen, “Jayden hurry up! Get off the phone and come get your lunch!”. She didn’t bother correcting her, simply throwing back a “K!”. She had a habit of waiting till the last minute to walk out the door, because, truly, who wants to go to school when the sun's barely up with nothing to look forward to besides the possibility of sneaking a nap in during ELA? Which, in 8th grade, was almost an impossible feat.
Today at least, was a Thursday which meant it was almost the weekend. It also happened to be November 14th, the day before her birthday. With that thought in mind Jayden tugged on the same beat up converse she did every day, shoved her phone into a small pocket on the front of her backpack, and with tired eyes, turned off the light, closed the door, and went to pack a lunch she probably wasn't going to eat.
When she arrived at the hell hole people call school, she walked through the double doors, handed a lady she didn’t know the name of her laptop so she could walk through a metal detector (due to stupid people online and worrisome parents). After she received said laptop back she made the journey through the hallways that were familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Going up a flight of stairs and turning, she walked into the very not unusually loud-headache-inducing classroom, sat down, and promptly fell asleep while everyone was waiting for the teacher - Mrs. Parker - to arrive.
ELA, her first class, went by easy enough. Next was P.E. Short for physical education, or another term for hell on earth. Fortunately it was only 45 minutes, 10 of which were wasted by the 2 coaches taking attendance. Going through the regular exercises were decent; it was only the stupid game or running activity Jayden despised.
After what should be considered the equivalent of torture, she made her way to art, the only decent class in existence (except for maybe social studies - but that’s just because its easy). By that time it was around 10:30am-ish, or, the time Jayden simply ran out of energy and went the rest of the day on autopilot.
By the time 2:55pm rolled around and it was time for dismissal, the only thing she wanted to do was collapse onto a pile of pillows and perish. So, after a 5 minute car ride that took an hour too long, she did exactly that.
By the time she woke up again it was dark outside. Lazily, she felt around for her phone, turning it on and glancing at the time. 4:43am. It wasn’t unusual, she usually woke up late at night like this. She was only disappointed because it meant she had to be awake again in roughly 2 hours.
‘Wait..’
She checked her phone again,
‘Oh. Huh..’
Noting it was in fact, November 15th, she smiled.
‘I’m 15 today! Yay I guess?’
Fully awake with this realization, she decided it’d be best to get up and dressed now so she wouldn’t have to deal with it later.
After tying her shoes, she put her headphones into her bag, along with her phone charger - since she forgot to charge her phone and was scared of being unable to communicate at school. Checking the time again, 5:00am, she decided to just doom-scroll until she inevitably had to exist again.
That was, until, a strange whirring noise came from the back yard.
“Uhhh..”
Unsure what to do about it, she decided to peak through the window, it didn't give her a clear view, the only thing slightly visible from this angle was a sort of black-light type glow.
Heart racing, Jayden crept her way through the house, slowly making her way towards the back door. Turning the doorknob, she tip-toed down the stairs and through the gate into the yard, keychains accidentally banging against the metal - she brought her messenger bag because it has a small flashlight attached to it. Cursing herself, she walked down another pair of stairs. And looked up.
There, about two dozen feet away, was possibly the strangest thing in existence.
It swirled around in a vertical oval shape, like a small galaxy. The only way to describe such a thing was other-worldly, alien-like, not meant for human eyes. It looked kind of like… ‘a portal..?’
“What.
The.
Fuck.”
“Hey, do you wanna come sit with us?” Peyton asked. It startled me, I usually just sleep during lunch, which usually caused a few people around me to ask if I was ok. Peyton was a… decent person. She was just a lot, and mildly annoying, as far as I'd gathered so far. It had only been a few weeks since school started. “Uh, sure, I guess.”. I got up and made my way to where her friend group sat at the far end of the table.
They were a typical friend group you’d encounter in 8th grade, most of them wore pink, one even brought a makeup bag which was… weird to say the least.
I thought they were being nice, since I assumed I looked pretty sad eating alone. Well, I didn't really eat since eating around people - especially this many - gives me really bad anxiety. As I was sitting down, the taller one, Clair? Clare? I don't know how to spell her name, Started asking me questions, “So, Jayden, right?..” she said while putting something on her face, blush maybe, it was unclear. “Yeah,”. I looked around nervously, already regretting my decision to sit with people I didn't know.
For the next 20 minutes I was asked controversial, embarrassing, or just rude questions, all the while the friend group laughed and snickered like I wasn't sitting right next to them. Which was obviously great for my self esteem entering a new school I wanted nothing to do with.
It was, to say the least, a very humiliating walk back up the stairs to my class. I never wanted to speak to that group of judgemental, inconsiderate, gossip-y girls again.
That memory pretty much sums up Jayden’s entire school year, and hence 90% of her current life. Her only safe place away from the hell that is school was the room she spent all her time in. But even then she couldn't escape it, with her mom constantly yelling at her about failing grades - which weren't even failing. Her mom just refused to hear her out on any explanations - and making her do missing assignments until she had to go to sleep.
Snapping out of whatever daydream that was, she refocused her eyes on the portal in front of her.
Jayden considered her options for a few minutes. Her options were one, either go back inside, pretend she never saw anything paranormal, and continue the repetitive cycle that is her life for the next… six years, possibly more. Or two…
she reached out to touch the swirling mass in front of her, it felt cold, not too cold. It was like a comforting breeze when you walk into a store on an unbearably warm summer day. It sparkled around her hand, and suddenly, she couldn’t remember why she ever even considered forgetting about this. Taking a step closer, she put a little more of her hand into the portal. It almost felt like water. She put a little more in, by this point it was a little past her wrist. With every inch of skin that disappeared into the mysterious mass of stars in front of her, the less she seemed to want to go back.
She looked back at the house, peering into a window that led into the kitchen. She wondered what would happen if, hypothetically, she walked fully into whatever was in front of her. Would her mom worry? Definitely, most likely. She looked back to the portal, and for some reason, she didn’t feel as much guilt as she should’ve at that thought. She walked forward a little, and a thought occurred to her. She couldn't believe she didn't think of it earlier. This exact scenario is one Jayden had thought of. A mysterious portal opening in her yard, early in the morning, was the start of her character's story.
The funko pops and figures Jayden has in her room are from a pretty popular anime called ‘My Hero Academia’ or, MHA for short. It was her favorite, she always loved the bright colors and cool fighting scenes, especially in the movies where the animation was so vibrant and fluid. She had always wondered what it’d be like to live in that universe, what quirks she would have, what she'd look like, etc. So, she made her own oc (original character). Like any oc, it had a backstory.
Her characters’ name didn’t change from her own, it stayed Jayden Aster. And Jayden's characters’ story started with a portal that led right into the MHA universe, at the start of the series.
A sudden burst of excitement ran through her body at the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to live out her fantasies of living in an alternate universe, with all her favorite characters. “I mean, it’s not that far-fetched of an idea.” She muttered. Hell, she’s already got half an arm submerged in what could only be described as a portal.
Holding her breath, she glanced back at the window, and nearly jumped out of her skin. It was no longer dark in her kitchen, there was a light on.
With her heart in the souls of her feet and sweat collecting on the back of her neck, she made a decision. “Fuck it.” She said slightly louder than she probably should’ve. And walked forward, slowly, but not too slowly, stepping into the portal. She cringed at the weird texture and its slight change in temperature.
She ducked her head in last, thinking about her family, what would happen when they opened her door and found nothing but blankets and stuffed animals in her bed? Her heart ached at the thought. But not enough for her to turn around. She held her breath as she went fully in. She wasn't sure what to expect on the other side, and she likely wasn’t prepared, but sometimes it’s ok to be unprepared, or take risks that are most likely irreversible. It’s part of life, whether that be a good thing or not. This was the last thought on her mind before everything went completely dark.