TROUBLE !
ii. romeo and juliet

DAWN HAD ARRIVED SWIFTLY, pouring a satin radiance of sunlight through the thin curtains of the shared dormitory. The interior harboured a wooden bunk bed, a small bathroom and multiple storage shelves and small wardrobes. Though Gwen and Felicity had only been inside for less than sixteen hours, the room lingered with the smell of luxurious perfume and adorned multiple strewn sweaters.

The white door of the bathroom remained slightly ajar, allowing a glimpse at the two girls inside who stared attentively at the large mirror before them. Scattered on the marble countertops opposite the window, multiple used bottles of black hair dye stained the material, the products having been used up the previous day.

Standing in front of the mirror, a very tired Felicity stood in a slightly too big 'I heart New York!' tee-shirt and a soft pair of dolphin shorts. Her hair, which only seven hours ago had been a shade of tender white, was now engulfed in a glossy shade of raven. In her hand, a thick white brush glided downwards through the locks of dark hair that she now adorned, watching as the strands fell back into their smooth order of laying straight against her chest.

By sneaking out through one of the many school exits during their lunch period, effectively breaking the school's rules within their first hour, the two girls had quickly made their way down to the first drug store that they had come across, grabbing multiple bottles of black hair dye and, due to the fact they had no money, subtly storing them inside the green-eyed girl's bag before exiting the store and returning back to the school. After two failed attempts—one due to laughing and the other due to the instructions being in a foreign language, and an endless time period of staring at the clock, the once silvery white hair that fell like a gentle waterfall of moonlight, was now smooth with a silky glow of darkness.

Beside the now dark-haired girl, Gwen used a teal flannel towel to dry her mouth after having brushed her teeth. She grimaced at the overwhelming taste of mint, but nevertheless glanced through the mirror at the younger girl. "Relax." She soothed, "It looks amazing, I promise. I'd tell you if there was something wrong, Fel." She comforted, nodding truthfully.

"No, I know. It's just weird." Felicity winced, tilting her head lightly at the reflection of dark hair that demolished her nature colour. The only reason why Felicity's hair had been such an eccentric colour was because of her own mother's, Felicia Amber, nee Hardy. The woman's hair had been extremely pale, borderline white, which had always been peculiar in her youth and had been passed down to her children.

Gwen chuckled faintly, moving to lean against the counter with a shrug, "Hey, listen, when we get back home, which we will," she emphasised dramatically, "I'll dye my hair, too." She confirmed, "you know, then it'll be like a both of us thing."

The dark-haired girl allowed a smile to tug at her lips as she raised her eyebrows in surprise, "you serious?"

"Yeah." Gwen nodded in confirmation, a lighthearted laugh bubbling up from her throat. "Course I am."

Felicity grinned brightly, snickering under her breath as she placed down the brush, leaning onto the counter the same as Gwen had done, "I reckon you'd suit pink hair, you know? Or blue... it'd match your eyes." She suggested, walking back into the actual bedroom and laying out her uniform on the lower bunk whilst Gwen lingered in the bathroom.

"okay, okay," Gwen rolled her eyes playfully, "let's decide all this after we get back home. For now," she stated as she walked closer, piece of paper in hand, "all you need to worry about is your English Literature class starting in thirteen minutes." She chuckled, index finger pointing to the opposite girl's timetable which read English first period, physics the next.

Felicity groaned exaggeratedly, fighting the urge to simply roll back into the bed that she had only slept in for a total of four hours—the rest of the night having been spent with the challenge of her hair. However, she and Gwen were on a mission for something they didn't yet know about. And besides, she wasn't totally terrible at literature. Matter of fact, she believed herself to be quite good at it.

The only problem being the fact that Gwen's first lesson of the day was music, which Felicity wholeheartedly believed the older girl would succeed beyond her other peers by a landslide simply because she had taught the dark-haired girl to play the drums within fifty-seven minutes. Subsequently, it also meant that Felicity would be alone in search of the anomaly Gwen had been so keen on puzzling together.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut as she let her upper body fall onto the comforter of the bed, laying so disturbing still that it prompted Gwen to pick up a nearby tie and throw it at the girl, successfully attracting her attention as she peaked an eye open whilst turning her head to the side to meet the blue-eyed girl's gaze.

Gwen glanced at her expectantly, gesturing to the uniform beside her. "Let's go. Don't want to be late on your first day now, do you?"

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THE FEELING OF BEING WATCHED was no short of unpleasant. Impertinent eyes lingering on her every move, initiating people to turn to their friends in hushed whispers, it had all become too familiar within the first four minutes of exiting her dorm and splitting up with Gwen. Since doing so, every click of her her heels, shift in her body language, it had all felt like a performance being watched by endless crowds of faceless strangers.

One wrong move and she'd be thrown to wolves that were, the students at Visions Academy.

Fortunately for her, Felicity wasn't intimidated, nor did she scowl back at those who raised their eyebrows at her new style of hair. She didn't shuffle awkwardly through the halls, too scared to meet anybody's eyes out of fear of their egotistical glares. No, because Felicity Amber was most definitely not a scaredy cat! She walked with her head held high and a confident glint within her eyes.

Back on earth sixty-five, their home, Felicity had dropped out. It was only a matter of time, she knew that, as did her teachers—which hadn't left them surprised when the girl had consistently failed to turn up to her classes, leaving some of the other students to glance at her chair in a look of saddened confusion before she fell to the back of their minds.

It had been a long time since she was deemed 'the new girl'.

Felicity also liked to believe she was observant, taking quick glances at people and knowing enough to register what clique they belonged to. The blonde girl, who walked past her with a particularly noticeable pep in her step as she adorned a bright grin, her jaw moving rapidly as she blew out a large bubble from her strawberry gum, was probably one of the 'populars', and the two boys who laughed like hyenas walking past her, both having skateboards shoved under their arms and headphones loose at their necks were skaters. All different people linked together by one objective—they were elites.

Students poured into the classrooms within the first minute that the obnoxiously loud bell had rung, sinking into their seats as they waited for their lesson to start. Walking through the open door to her assigned classroom, Felicity glanced over the already sitting students—about twelve or so—and made her way over to the awaiting teacher, Mrs. Jones.

The woman looked to be quite young compared to the other teachers, most likely in her mid twenties, and adorned a purple floral patterned dress which gave her a sweet aura. She smiled at the approaching girl before glancing down to the registration sheet before her. "Felicia amber, correct?"

Felicity, or as she had given her name Felicia, nodded with a hum of confirmation, generating the woman to cross her arms with a gesturing smile, "Good. It's a pleasure to have you joining the class. We have some empty seats by the back right over there." The woman pointed an index finger to the four empty seats at the back of the classroom, "if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

"Thank you." The dark-haired girl nodded politely, walking away from the woman's desk and over to the empty seats towards the back. The desks were seperated in seats of two and both tables remained unoccupied until she moved to sit on one of them. a low muffle of conversation hazed through the classroom, slowly dying as more and more people entered the classroom.

Finally, when it seemed everybody was in, the door shut as Mrs. Jones returned to the large blackboard whilst speaking, "Today we'll be carrying on with Act two, scene two of Romeo and j--"

An abrupt, echoing clash resounded through the room as the door was shoved open. At the sound of the loud noise, every drop of attention in the room had somehow found itself landing on the late arrival, watching his every move and breath as though it was their purpose in life. Stood in the doorway, a slightly out of breath boy with a stack of books clutched in his hands and an awkward expression coating his features, glanced around the room.

"Mr. Morales." The teacher greeted from where she stood in front of the blackboard, pushing up the pair of glasses blocking her eyes to rest on her head as she stopped writing, "So glad you could join us. Is there a reason you're late to my class, or did you only just decide you would like to participate in today's lesson?" Her voice held a mature amusement to it that allowed the pupils to know she wasn't being completely serious.

The boy let out an uncomfortable laugh, gesturing behind him with what was a blatant lie, "I would've been her sooner, but there were these kids outside fighting." he stated slowly, his eyebrows creasing in indication that even he wouldn't have believed his lie. He glanced around nervously, examining those who examined him.

"I see." Mrs. Jones mused, "Well, you can take a seat next to our other newest arrival, Felicia." The boy nodded with a sigh, glancing over to the girl at the back who had blinked at the mention of her name.

The boy remained stunned for a moment, unaware that his feet were dragging him over to the empty seat beside the aforementioned girl. There was something so dauntingly familiar that he just couldn't quite place. Something that had festered in his mind over the course of the last two and a half days, the constant replaying of twinkling emerald eyes that highlighted the darkness like gleams of endless light, and glistening hair that could make the moon above envious of it's natural silky radiance.

This girl was different. Her hair was delicate with the possession of an alluring obsidian that gleamed with a polished shine. Her locks of smooth dark hair fell straight down her back, falling forward behind her ears as she looked down at the piece of paper in front of her with concentration, biting down on the tender skin of her lips. As she glanced up momentarily, he caught a glimpse at the overpowering tint of green that could've drowned his with the simple glimmer of her upturned eyes. He would've called her pretty if the word didn't sound like such an insult in comparison to her otherworldly aura, she was something more.

Unbeknownst to him, Felicity's internal voice had utterly lost it's mind at the educator's words. Shrugging off his backpack and sitting on the seat beside her was none other than the boy she had met at the jewellery store, except now she was able to examine every aspect of him under the florescent school lights. His hair was ruffled with curls and soft ringlets of jet-black hair adorning his head, whilst his eyes gleamed with the familiar golden brown of the nights before, though now it appeared to melt into a bright cinnamon that embellished his youthful radiance.

The one person she was trying to avoid was sitting right fucking next to her.

He shuffled nervously into the seat beside her, attempting to subtly look at the piece of paper that she appeared so intently focused on. After a moment, she gazed back up as the teacher began to speak again. "Can anybody explain what happened in the the previous scene?" She asked, and almost immediately after, one of the girls on the front row shot her hand up with an overly confident smile.

The lesson dragged at an unbearable rate, half due to the boy next to her's subconscious humming, but mostly down to the most irritating girl Felicity had ever come a cross inside of a school, Jocelyn Mortle, who's hand shot up at every question. And when she hadn't been called on, instead decided to interrupt the person speaking. It made a forming scowl cross over Felicity's face as, once again, the girl raised her hand at the question: "who says the famous phrase, parting is such sweet sorrow, that i shall say good night till it be morrow, and why?"

Immediately, Jocelyn's hand was reached into the air and speaking before her tongue could catch up with her, "Romeo. He says it to Juliet because he's going to come back and meet her again the next day." She stated simply, a cocky smile on her face as her friends gave her false smiles of congratulation.

Felicity's jaw almost fell slack as she glanced around the room, watching as nobody made a move to correct her. When nobody had done so, Felicity spoke up, "Actually that's not true." Immediately all attention had fallen onto her, "It's actually Juliet who says, 'parting is such sweet sorrow,' and it's an oxymoron because of the words sweet and sorrow. She's talking about how she's sad to part with him but excited to see him again in the future."

A daunting silence encased the classroom as a frustrated blush rose upon Jocelyn's cheeks whilst she turned to look at the dark-haired girl with a scowl of annoyance. For the flicker of a moment, Felicity could've sworn to hear the boy beside her let out a chuckle before covering it with a faint cough.

At the front of the class, the educator smiled in satisfaction, "Thank you, Miss Amber." She nodded, "Miss Mortle, take notes." She instructed as she turned back to continue writing on the board, prompting for the class to carry on with their tasks.

A sigh passed through the dark-haired girl's lips as she continued to shade in the drawing of a diamond that she had drawn on the corner of the page. An awkward silence fell between the girl and the boy beside her, who stared absentmindedly out of the nearby window, neither expecting the other to speak. Then, as though he'd been possessed by impulses, the boy leaned towards Felicity, "So... you into Shakespeare?"

Felicity hummed in surprise, having not expected the boy to say anything. "Sorry?" She blinked, leaning towards him slightly. Her initial plan had been to ignore the boy at all costs—if he'd recognised her, even with dark hair, and told somebody, she and Gwen would be out within seconds. So the boy's words had left her swimming in perplexity

"I said, you into Shakespeare?" He repeated in hopes of making conversation. His eyes swam with curiosity as he watched the expressions unfold on her face.

Felicity nodded thoughtfully, "Oh, yeah, yeah—a lot actually. I think he's a pretty cool guy." She mused, sharing a faint chuckle with the boy before she spoke again, "Hey, did you really witness a fight before?" She redirected the subject, tilting her head knowingly which had caught the boy off guard.

"Yeah." He said, a little too loudly, attracting the attention of close students who turned to glare at the boy whilst making a hushing sound. He cleared his throat thickly whilst nodding, "I mean, Yeah." He drawled his voice, "Yeah, it was pretty violent. Some guy almost slammed my head into this locker as I was passing by." He lied, "some pretty dangerous stuff. You might want to be careful when you get back out there."

As he spoke, Felicity nodded her head in mock understanding. An amused smirk pulled at her lips as she raised her eyebrows at the boy, "oh, well you should probably go to the nurse. You might have a concussion, you know? If your head was almost slammed into a locker." The boy failed to respond, simply glancing back at her in thought as he tried to think of a witty comeback. Curiously, the girl inquired, "what's your name?"

The boy retracted slightly, having assumed the girl had figured out his name when he had first walked into the room, or at least at some point during the first forty minutes of the lesson. "You don't know my name?"

She chuckled lightly whilst nodding, "No, I know your name." She lied, "I just want to know if you know your name." She continued to question, a radiance of playfulness emitting as she continued to tease the odd boy.

The brown-eyed boy scoffed, "Miles." He introduced himself, "Miles Morales." The boy confirmed, a smile of amusement coating his lips, "You're Felicia, right?" He narrowed his eyes in inquiry, having heard the name Mrs. Jones had used previously for the girl.

Felicity nodded, biting the side of her inner cheek before asking, "Can I offer you a piece of advice, Miles Morales?" The boy hummed as a sign for her to continue with her 'piece of advice.'

"Tie your shoelaces."

Simultaneously, the two of them glanced down to his untied red Jordans, the laces falling to the floor loosely. A noticeable contrast in his ragged shoes compared to her shiny Mary Janes. Miles released a somewhat impressed huff, "woah, you gotta be pretty observant to notice some shit like that." He commented, glancing back up to her eyes. Her oh-so familiar eyes.

Felicity shunned the logical part of her that told her not to allude or gesture to their strange encounter a few nights prior. However, a mischievous part of her wanted to know what would come, and considering the waves of troublesomeness that inked her veins, she nonchalantly let out a breath, "well, facts have to be discovered by observation, not by reasoning."

Miles paused noticeably, his mind refreshing the words he had spoken only forty-eight hours previously. Her tone was intwined with playfulness, as though she knew something he could never even dare to think about. There was no way, no possible way this girl was the one he had met outside the jewellery store. If she was, then she was a thief! An awfully pretty thief with an awfully strong talent for catching his attention.

The black cat's hair was a silvery white that cascaded gently from her ponytail, silvery bangs falling to frame her face in a moonlit aura. But yet her eyes were still a matching shade of tender emerald, glimmering with knowing mischief. There was simply no possible way that they were the same person.

When the boy's responses ceased, Felicity hummed, "it's a quote by--"

"Bertrand Russel." They both stated synchronously, Miles adding a quiet, "yeah, I know." As he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, glancing down at the sketch of a diamond that was on her paper; a whole new meaning coming to mind. "You must be pretty into jewels, huh?"

Felicity nodded, "Totally. Diamonds the most." She added, a glimpse of troublesome knowledge twinkling within the haze of emeralds she adorned for eyes.

Suddenly, an obnoxiously loud ringing boomed through the school in an unexpected repetition, the sound of the fondly awaited bell. It rung throughout the school in a harrowing screech, blaring and roaring through the corridors and leaking under the classrooms doors. "Don't forget about your Act One Romeo and Juliet quiz tomorrow, revise for your own sake!" Mrs. Jones reminded, her voice battling the sound of the bell as the students began pouring out of the classroom.

"It was nice talkin' to you, Morales." Felicity stated as she shrugged her bag over her shoulder, "see you 'round." She grinned, exiting the classroom whilst leaving a particularly stunned Miles Morales in her wake.

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"COUNTLESS OTHER POSSIBILITIES," the tape recording of the famously known Olivia Octavius stated as she bicycled down a tree-lined street. The tape played loudly through the dark classroom, allowing a pale blue hue to radiate throughout the classroom and over the endless row of students.

"There could be a universe where I am wearing red! Or am wearing leather pants--"

Mixed into the row of students upon the tables, Felicity glanced down at the black nail polish upon her nails before folding the paper in front of her, blatantly having little to no interest in the physicist's words. She shuffled uncomfortably against the hard back of the chair, letting out a faint sigh of frustration. Beside her, Gwen stared disinterestedly at the screen, glancing at her best friends choice of making origami stars every so often.

For the second time that day, the door had clattered open gingerly revealing an out of breath Miles Morales, who's silhouette haunted the gaping doorway. Stacked in his hands, a mountain of books blocked any view of his chest and neck as he attempted to balance the weight of them all. Embarrassed, Miles leaned down in an attempt to avoid the burning gazes of his classmates, and the interrogation of Ms. Calleros.

"You've got to be fucking joking." Felicity breathed out, watching the boy's awkward movements as he attempted to go unseen. A comical laugh almost dripped from her throat at the thought. it seemed wherever she went, Miles Morales would be quick to follow.

A sudden pause echoed throughout the room, interrupting Doctor Octavius' words as Ms. Calleros watched the boy's movements. "Mr. Morales." She announced, "moving in the dark. You're late again."

Mikes shrugged lightly, his eyes squinting to avoid the intense light of the projector as he gazed forward at the shadow of the woman. "Einstein said time is relative, right?" He stated, "maybe I'm not late. Maybe you guys are just early."

A heavily unamused silence suffocated the room, blanketing it in an awkward tension that made Felicity fight the urge to cringe, having to cover her mouth in order for her snickers to go unheard. Gwen, however, let out a faint chuckle, which in the noiseless classroom came out a lot louder than it meant to. At the sound of her laughter, people turned give Gwen questioning looks as to how she could've possibly found the joke funny.

"Sorry." Gwen pipped, outwardly gesturing her hand apologetically as she bashed Felicity's knee with her own in an attempt to cease her silent laughter which was visible in the constant vibrations of her shoulders. "It was just so quiet." She finished, causing Miles to carry a tight-lipped smile.

Redirecting the attention to her, Mrs. Calleros asked impatiently, "Would you like to keep standing there or do you want to sit down?" She raised her eyebrows, unpausing the screen with an unimpressed glint in her eyes, slightly blocked by the lens of her glasses.

Shuffling clumsily, Miles moved to sit down at the table beside Felicity and Gwen's as he shrugged off his backpack. He sat down quickly, hurriedly trying to get the attention away from him whilst doing so.

"Our universe is in fact one of many parallel universes happening at the exact same time." The unpaused video of the physicist carried on, "-Thanks to everybody here at the Fisk Family Foundation for the sciences, I will prove they exist when i build my supercollider. All I need is ten billion dollars. Chump change, right?"

"So, this a regular thing? You showing up late." Miles' head turned at the sound of the feminine voice, his eyes meeting the familiar green once more as Felicity leaned behind Gwen's chair to get a glimpse at the boy. His eyes widened in surprise, obliviously not expecting to have seen the dark-haired girl again after their English class.

His shoulders rose and fell quickly as he spoke in a hushed voice, "Nah, just found out you'd be here and decided to take my time." He responded, amplifying his tone of wit to match the fighting smirk that threatened to envelop his face.

At the interaction, a laugh pushed past Gwen's throat, which she quickly covered with a cough. At the sound, Miles glanced to her momentarily with a look a satisfaction that he had managed to make somebody laugh. Expanding on the conversation, Gwen added, "I liked your joke. The Einstein one."

"Really?" He asked in surprise, his voice intwining with Felicity's as she raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Gwen rolled her eyes at her best friend's look of judgement, "I mean, it wasn't funny, that's why I laughed. But it was smart, so I liked it." She half-complimented, glancing at Miles briefly before redirecting her attention to the screen.

Miles hummed, slightly taken aback that somebody had found his joke to be amusing. After a moment he replied, "i don't think i've seen you befo--"

"Shush!"

Mrs. Calleros interjected through the conversation, walking between the isles with her arms crossed over her chest authoritatively. A displeased look crossed over her features as she glanced down at the three teenagers with a look of irritation. The three immediately turned to look back at the screen where Doctor Octavius carried on her speech with an energetic love for science.

Subtly, the boy let his eyes flicker over to the dark-haired girl, a glint of curiosity evident in his eyes as he attempted to go unnoticed. Her gaze was once again focused downwards on her small sketches as she pushed a piece of dark hair away from her face. He exchanged his gaze back to the screen, assuming nobody had seen.

Unbeknownst to him, the blonde between them had.

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authors note !

so I changed the cover and the title cause I didn't like it but I kind of like this cover idk
just letting y'all known now that this will be kind of a slowburn just because I think pinning and angst is a lot of fun so. also Felicity's black cat suit is more inspired by the game version but if you wanna imagine it to be like the comic version with the white fur you can it's up to you really.
btw thanks for 1k :)