AN: This is my first time writing a story for this fandom so please be nice! I suppose the setting and the choice of character is ironic because I'm procrastinating doing homework for college.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything, all rights to their owners.
Seventeen-year old Jemma Simmons approached the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology with her bags. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous about being here. She was in a new country and despite speaking the same language, she knew that England and the United States had cultural differences. It was undeniable that she was a brilliant student; she had two PhDs already. Admittance to Sci-Tech required at least one PhD though, so Jemma expected to be around a variety of people just as smart if not smarter than herself. On that note, she couldn't help but worry that the age gap would make her a target. She'd always ended up the youngest in her classes in recent years, so it wasn't exactly a new concept, but she was so much closer to home then. Now she was alone.
Jemma walked through the halls of the dorm, searching for her room. She knew she had the right building and floor, it was just a matter of finding the room. She glanced in each direction down the hall and turned left, stopping in front of room 2424. A quick look down at the paper in her hand confirmed that this was her room. Jemma unlocked the door and pulled her bags into the room, pushing the door shut again with her foot. She was thrilled that the Academy had single rooms; she couldn't imagine trying to get much work done with another person constantly in the room, so having her own room and bathroom was a huge plus is her book.
Class schedules had been sent out to the students a couple of weeks before, and Jemma had been quick to obtain her books. Getting to the Academy, however, had taken more time than she had expected and now it was only the day before the first day of class. The largest problem there was of course the jet lag, going five hours back from home to here would be a bit of an adjustment, but with any luck maybe she'd just wake up early. She'd presumably have to get used to staying up late studying anyway, and Jemma was sure that her internal clock would adjust soon.
After spending about an hour unpacking, Jemma decided to go scout out where her classes were for the next day. Wandering about like a lost puppy on the first day wouldn't do her any good after all. Jemma grabbed her keys and phone, locked the door, and set off for the main Academy building. Other students were outside milling about, talking, reading, and listening to music. None of them paid Jemma any heed; there was no reason for them to notice her. She couldn't help but worry that someone would stop her though.
In hindsight, it was unsurprising that Jemma located each of her classes uninterrupted, and she spent the rest of the hour exploring other areas of the Academy: the cafeteria, the library, various study rooms, and of course, her favorite, the lab. She'd always loved being in the lab, it was where she came up with many of her endless questions and where she could begin to find the answers to them. Content with her findings, the young scientist returned to her room to prepare for bed. She realized it wasn't particularly late, but the jet lag was already affecting her and a good night's sleep before the first day of class couldn't possibly be a bad thing.
Once ready for bed Jemma unzipped her backpack and pulled out one of her textbooks. She was tired, but she wanted to skim through the reading for tomorrow one last time. She wanted to make a good first impression after all. Another round of highlighting and note taking later, the textbook was put away and Jemma curled up in bed, checking her phone one last time to find a text from her mum.
'Hi, Jemma, hope you got to the Academy safely and are settling in well. Best of luck tomorrow and try not to worry too much! You'll be just fine! We love you!' the text read.
Jemma smiled and sent a quick text back. 'Thanks mum! I'm all settled in and ready for tomorrow, I think. Give dad a hug for me! Love you both!'
With no more messages to answer, Jemma set her alarm to give herself plenty of time to get ready the next morning and set an extra alarm, just in case. After double-checking the alarms and plugging the phone up to charge, she finally went to sleep.
The next morning Jemma woke up with a start to the sound of her alarm and quickly turned it off. She hadn't realized the night before that she'd set it to be so loud. The brunette crawled out of bed and stretched, grateful that she'd given herself plenty of time to prepare for her day and gather her thoughts. She went over to her closet and picked out a pair of plain black pants and a white shirt with black sleeves. Once she was dressed, she made some tea and a bowl of cereal and sat at her desk for breakfast. One of her textbooks was still open on the desk from yesterday and she flipped through it curiously for a moment before setting aside and grabbing a Harry Potter book. On top of being a studious girl, she loved to read for fun and this was one of her favorite series. She'd always related to Hermione in particular, but she supposed that could be expected.
With breakfast finished and her dishes washed, Jemma went to put on some simple makeup. She wasn't a huge fan of makeup and certainly didn't apply a lot like some girls did, but she liked to do a small amount of eyeshadow and mascara with a powder foundation. She grabbed her brush and brushed out the knots in her hair from sleep and checked to make sure none of it was sticking straight up before brushing her teeth and going to pack her backpack for the morning's classes.
A quick glance at her watch confirmed that she still had plenty of time, but Jemma decided she'd like to get to her first class a little early to make sure she got a good seat, preferably near the front since her first class was a lecture. She gave the room a once over to see if she'd forgotten anything and went to open the door. As soon as she stepped into the hall, she was suddenly soaked by a water balloon that must have been above her door, placed to where it would fall when the door opened.
"Bloody hell!" she gasped, trying to process what had happened. She couldn't fathom why this would be happening here, and on the first day of class of all days! She quickly assessed that she couldn't be the only one based on similar puddles of water throughout the hall. Why would no one else have thought to warn each other then? Perhaps, like she was now realizing, they simply didn't have the time.
Jemma darted back into her room with a huff to change into dry clothes. Luckily her bag seemed mostly dry, but her hair and clothes were soaked and walking around until lunch four hours later in sopping clothes did not appeal to her at all. She snatched a dry outfit from her closet and changed quickly, abandoned the wet clothes on the floor. She'd deal with them later, there wasn't time to hang them up. A glance in the mirror showed that her mascara was running. Jemma groaned and ran into the bathroom, cleaning her running makeup the best she could in the short amount of time she had. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do for her hair, and she didn't have time to fix her makeup. She looked like a drowned rat which was most definitely not how she wanted to start her first day. Damn.
Another look at her watch confirmed her fears; she had to go now if she didn't want to be late to her first class, and she most definitely did not want to be late. Jemma snagged her bag from where she'd dropped it and left for class again, her head down a bit as she walked. She hoped she wouldn't be the only one like this. She was so embarrassed that she looked like this, but she supposed that maybe this was some form of strange test?
Jemma slipped into class and sat down beside a blonde who also looked a bit like a drowned rat.
"They get you too, huh?" the blonde asked, turning to face Jemma.
"Yes... who are 'they' exactly though? What is all this about?" Jemma frowned.
"The upperclassmen. It's a tradition. The first years always get pranked constantly with no warning and you never know what's gonna happen. I think they went with water balloons for all the first years today to mark us or something, makes future pranks easier," the blonde shrugged.
"How do you know all this? I'd never heard about it before."
"My brother, he graduated last year and gave a few tips and warnings. Non-classified information of course."
"Oh. That makes sense. Um, what's your name?"
"Addison. You?" the blonde grinned.
"Jemma," she smiled back.
"No, I mean your last name. We do last names here, except outside of class during our personal time and all."
"Oh... Simmons then. Sorry about that. No offense, but how old are you? I don't have any frame of reference for here."
"Me? I'm twenty-two. You look a bit young to be here to be entirely honest," Addison replied curiously.
"I'm seventeen. They said that some guy and I are the youngest to ever be admitted. I think I'm qualified though, and they clearly did, and I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound all defensive I'm just a bit nervous. I felt ready this morning and this... Prank happened, and now I'm all anxious again," Jemma looked down, a bit embarrassed about rambling.
"No way! How did you even get in here then? You'd better be ready. They love to pick on first years but with that much of a gap there's gonna be a ton of them that look down on you as just a kid. Well, I mean, legally you are a kid."
"I may be younger but that doesn't make me less intelligent or less capable. And I'm eighteen in September. It isn't that far off."
"I suppose, but that doesn't mean it'll make much of a difference to them," Addison shrugged and turned to her notebook, pushing her damp blonde hair out of her face. Jemma started to respond but stopped when the professor started talking.
The class passed rather uneventfully besides the professor herself pointing out the gaggle of soaked first years. She seemed amused, which just supports what Addison said about it being tradition. Jemma assumed that none of the pranks were allowed to be dangerous since the staff so far didn't seem to care much.
Jemma's other classes of the morning passed in a similar manner. She had one other class with Addison, and this younger guy was in most of her classes so far, but she didn't know his name. Based on looks she'd guess that he might be the same age as her and be the other person who got in this young. He certainly seemed smart, he spoke up and answered questions a fair amount, and to her annoyance it was often the same questions she'd try to answer.
Addison, while seemingly a bit reluctant to be hanging around the kid all the time, agreed to have lunch with Jemma and maybe meet up later to study together. Both girls finally had dry hair by now, and Jemma had found a moment to fix her face up a little, so they didn't look entirely like disasters. It's the small victories.
The rest of the day wasn't particularly interesting either until chem lab when Jemma was partnered with the younger guy. He wouldn't make eye contact with her. He seemed a bit nervous. She started to ask his name but was cut off by the professor starting to call roll; it was a much smaller class than the lecture halls and attendance was actually recorded whereas the cadets were expected to show up to lecture regardless.
"Leopold Fitz?" the professor called.
"Here!" the young man across from Jemma looked up suddenly. He glanced at her and went back to his textbook. Jemma frowned. He did seem competitive throughout the day so far, maybe he saw her as a threat somehow? She had to agree that she was feeling a touch competitive herself. After all they both had something to prove to the rest of the Academy. They had to prove they were worth of being there. Of course-
"Jemma Simmons?" the professor called, tearing Jemma from her thoughts.
"Here!" Jemma looked up from staring at her own textbook to find Fitz studying her. He looked back down as soon as he realized she noticed and she frowned. Her attempt to question him was again cut off by the professor who began to give instructions for class today, which mostly consisted of follow the instructions in the textbook and lab manual and ask questions if you have any. Jemma had a feeling that this was supposed to test their attentiveness somewhat as well as the actual material of the class.
Fitz and Jemma talked little during the class despite working together. Most of their interactions consisted of brief, one-word commands to each other to make sure that the other was paying attention. Jemma attempted to strike up a conversation once or twice, but he brushed her off and didn't seem interested in talking. He still wouldn't really look at her.
Despite their minimal communications, they completed the admittedly simple experiment rather easily and the professor approved of their work. Jemma smiled, feeling rather pleased with herself. It was a basic experiment, it was only the first day after all, but that didn't mean she wasn't happy to have gotten it right and been acknowledged for it. Fitz looked happy too even though he wouldn't look at her. There was nothing else for them to do today, and they were released from class to go wherever they wished. For Jemma, it was her last class of the day, and unbeknownst to her it was Fitz's last class for the day too.
The two left and class and ended up walking in the same direction, much to Jemma's surprise. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, she glanced over at him curiously to find his eyes firmly glued to the path ahead.
"Um... Fitz, is it?" Jemma asked quietly.
"Yes, Simmons?" he replied.
"Just, um... did you get water ballooned this morning too?" Jemma asked distractedly. It wasn't her original question but she hadn't expected him to answer.
"That obvious?" Fitz frowned, reaching up to mess with his hair for a moment.
"No! I mean, a bit. I know I still look a bit of a mess, myself. Are you the other youngest they let in? You just seem a lot younger than the others. I am too. I'm only seventeen. I got warned that they might try and mess with me more than the other first years because of it, so I thought maybe I'd warn you too," Jemma babbled, pausing to breathe.
"Er, yea, I am. I just turned eighteen a couple days ago. So, I guess I get to avoid the kid bias at least," Fitz hesitated.
"I suppose I'll have to go through that alone the next few weeks then until my birthday... but that's alright. Happy late birthday!"
"Thanks, I guess."
"Where are you headed?"
"My room. 2423. I want to get a head start on the homework from today."
"Oh! I'm 2424, maybe we could work together some? Could be fun," Jemma suggested with a smile as they stepped off the elevator.
"Yea... maybe. I'll think about it," Fitz replied, still not looking at her. He stopped in front of his door and unlocked it. "Bye Simmons," he added and ducked into his room.
Jemma frowned uncertainly and opened the door to her own room and walked inside, nudging the door shut behind her. The abandoned wet clothes on the floor drew a sigh from her and she picked them up and trudged to the bathroom to hang them up to try. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her phone to text her mom.
'Hey, mum! First day was alright. I made a friend, I think, and my chem lab partner is the 18-year-old guy they said was the other youngest to ever get in. He's in the room next to mine, we have a few other classes together so maybe we can study together? Maybe get Addison to study with us too. I have to work on my homework though. Love you, mum!' Jemma set her phone down and sat down at her desk to finally start on her homework.
AN: Oh boy this the longest chapter I've ever written which I mean isn't saying a lot but still. Thanks for reading! Any constructive criticism would be much appreciated! I would like to continue this story, but I'm not sure how often I'll update if I do.